TheBanyanTree: Frozen in Water

[Margaret R. Kramer]

We’re on the warm edge of a major winter storm.  The temperatures are above
freezing, so instead of a massive dumping of snow, we’re getting rain.  Rain
in January.  Rain in January in Minnesota.  Go figure.

However, this morning, the temp was just at freezing, and my driveway was
covered with a thin layer if ice.

I signed up to run in a 5K in downtown St Paul as part of the Winter
Carnival.  I was going to take the bus, but when I walked on that frozen
driveway, I thought better of it.  It would have taken me hours to baby step
my way to the bus stop, so I decided to drive.  The streets were OK, as they
had been salting them all night to keep the ice at bay.

While I was walking over my garage, I slipped and fell on my big butt.
Thank goodness, I have enough cushion on that butt, so I didn’t even feel a
thing.  I sat on the ground for a while, contemplating my options.

I could stay home, like I did last year and the year before, my wimpy excuse
was that it was too cold.  This year is was too warm.  And icy!  

But I knew that road where we would be running would be just fine.

So I got up and got in my car and off I went.

The drive was fine.  When I got downtown, people were walking OK on the
sidewalks.

The half marathon people go first and then the 5K people.  I set myself up
at the back of the pack, because I’m slow as a turtle.  But I felt good this
year.  Even though I haven’t been running outside, because of the ice from
our Christmas storm, I’ve been working out consistently and I’m in good
shape aerobically.

I ran a good race, for me, a turtle.  I didn’t get tired.  I set a good pace
and stuck with it.  Everything just worked.  I got too hot and took off some
of my layers, but other than sweating a lot, I was OK.

I love listening to my iPod while running.  I didn’t use it until the second
half of the race, but the music helped me keep my rhythm and not slow up.
The music I have on the darn thing is so happy, I have to keep bouncing.

I finished in sweat.  I got my free mug and other goodies and then went
home.

It rained a little bit during the race, but it’s rained a lot during the
afternoon.  We would have had a good snowfall if we would have been on the
cold side of the storm.  We’re supposed to get a couple of inches tomorrow
night, I guess.  Not a big deal.


I’ll hunker down at home tonight, even though there’s no imminent danger of
an ice storm.  What’s better than a rainy night in January in Minnesota to
read a good book, listen to jazz, and contemplate life?

Margaret R. Kramer
margaretkramer at comcast.net
margaret.kramer at polarispublications.com
www.polarispublications.com
www.linkedin.com/in/margaretkramer

Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a
friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire:  it is the time for home. 
-Edith Sitwell