Running Early
This morning I slowly became aware of the sound of rain drumming on the shingles above my bedroom. I knew that I would be too busy to exercise much this weekend so I grabbed my laptop to see if the storm would let up long enough for me to squeeze in a run later today. The dull gray light peeking around the edges of the window shades didn’t look promising.
The temperature outside read 41ºF. Ugh. Any colder than that and I’d rather be wearing a pair of skis or skates.
The radar showed an image of New England blanketed by green bands of rain and a few angry yellow blotches of heavier rain. All of New England, that is, except for one tiny gap above the city I live in. It wouldn’t last long. And another yellow patch was approaching fast from the west.
“Umm… now. I’m going running now.”
I finally got out of bed. Waking up could wait.
Skating Backwards
I spent yesterday afternoon doing something I hadn’t tried in a very long time, ice skating outdoors on a pond. When I arrived at my niece’s tenth birthday party she was playing hockey with a bunch of her girlfriends and a few boys like it was the most natural thing in the world. I envy kids who get to grow up doing that regularly in Canada. The small cove was surrounded by trees and a few other lake houses and it looked like something out of a Norman Rockwell painting.
I was eager to use my new hockey skates which I had recently bought after years of wasting hours searching for rentals during weekend trips to Vermont and Canada. It felt great to have my own pair again, even if they’re doomed to spent the rest of the year gathering dust in the knee wall as part of my growing collection of outdoor gear.
So I skated out to meet the kids, declared myself an honorary member of the girls’ team, and tried to play a little defense.
