"Honey, Come Quick!"
We had a crazy wind and rain storm last night. At one point the noise of the wind wiping around the house woke me from a deep sleep. Of course I had to check on Sophia; she was safely snoring in her sleep and had not blown away, as I had feared. When I returned to my bed I began to dread the fact that in the morning I would have to run my "long-run." Everything in me at that moment did not feel like running 8 miles--it was three freakin' AM, of course I didn't feel like running eight miles! When I finally did get up a few hours later, eight miles seemed a little more feasible, and due to my husband's schedule would have to be completed before noon--which gave me little time to devise excuses not to go.
Once I got out the door and started running I survey the damage from the night before. All the rain had washed away most of the sandy shoulder, creating gushing riverlettes along the way. The stream that cuts through town was swollen and overflowing its banks. The continuous roar of rushing water reminded me of the thaw in The Chronicles of Narnia that comes after the White Witch's power has been broken and Aslan returns; at that moment the sun came out from behind the clouds. Spring is on its way! (Cue triumphant music.)
Copious amount of water were not the only result of the storm: the road was littered with broken branches and pine needle. Cars sped by crunching over the debris in the road. As I ran up Elm street on my way out of town, a passing car crunched over a downed-limb. At the "pop" of the branch breaking I imagined a jagged piece of wood shrapnel flying through air, embedding itself in my quad. I would scream in pain and fall to my knees. It is a good thing I brought my cell phone, I would say to my self as I pulled if from my pocket to to call my husband. "Honey!" I would say bravely, "Come quick! I'm on Elm Street, I have a piece of wood lodged in my leg! I need to go to the hospital!" Luckily that is not what happened: at the sound of the "pop" the piece of wood simply rolled from where it had been under the car's tire, to a spot on the road about four inches away. Close call.
The rest of my run was much less dramatic. I enjoyed the fleeting sunshine and the feel of spring. I was glad to be out, thankful that I hadn't made any excuses. The anticipation of spring, the fact that I wasn't wearing obscene amounts of winter clothing all had me in a good mood. In the last mile of my run I ran past Dick Dame Lane and as I did noticed and older man out raking the pine needles in his front lawn. I called out a friendly "Good Morning!" There was no response. He turned his back and continued raking. It was Mr. Dick-Dame-Private-Lane himself! And, no, he did not yell at me for running "too fast."
