TheBanyanTree: early morning Sunday run

[Julie Anna Teague]

I've never been much into exercising early in the morning, before
breakfast and coffee.  A low blood sugar thing, maybe, and I always
wake up hungry.  But it was so hot and intensely humid the day before
that I thought I'd just get up and do something while the nighttime
cool still lingered.  I jogged into the blissfully breezy, still-quiet,
damp, blue sky Sunday morning.  A friend of mine came up with the word
"slog" to describe what she does around the path in the park, and
although my past-runner self cringes, I have to admit that that hits
closer to the mark than the word "run" for the amount of effort I put
into running these days.  I blame my lower back for this and many other
activities I've had to slack up on, but I simply refuse to let this one
aberrant part of me run the show, and so I go out and jog, or slog, or
walk really fast, and sometimes I run like deer just because I feel
like it and to hell with the consequences.  I jog past four small ponds
and greet my friends--a kingfisher with a small fry in it's mouth, an
otter, and two huge grass carp who skim near the surface, their tails
held at odd angles so that they almost look shark-like.  I enjoy this
time more than I think I will.  It fills many of my needs: I like to
move, to be alone, to be outside, to think my thoughts, to feel my
heart pound.  I think, mostly, about the vacation we'd just returned
from in Grand Teton National Park.  The beauty of it all was
breathtaking, the cool, dry air was an amazing treat for someone who
lives the rest of her summer life in hazy, hot Indiana.  But home feels
good at this moment.  Feels right.  I get my breath and find my right
pace, inside and out.

Julie





----- End forwarded message -----