This temple, it tilts.
I should have run Monday.
That was my plan, anyway. I skipped a few days last week, and had intended to get back on the regular schedule of MWF this week, even despite Christmas. It's funny how, when you start getting into a routine schedule of exercise, one deviation from such can bring about quite a bit of guilt. It ends up being like a drug....like smoking, maybe. This monday, due to a set of unique circumstances, I was unable to run. Due to other circumstances out of my control, I was unable to run Tuesday...either.
On Monday, I had to finish some Christmas shopping. I searched far and wide for that particular microfiber blanket that my mother wanted, but to no avail. I checked on the status of my special gift for my parents...the rock, apparently "soapstone," that I had plucked out of the dry lake bed. About 3.5' high by nearly as much wide, I hoped to have it engraved with our family name by Christmas, to be used as an address marker. (You set it out by your mailbox.) My intent has been to create a family heirloom, as we have nothing else of the sort to carry on the Hurtt name. Why not have it chiseled in stone?
I can't get ahold of the stonecutter on the 22nd.
On the 23rd, I call, they tell me it will be ready later in the day and that they will call me. They never call me, they don't answer the phones. Extremely stressful day at work, atop the guilt of skipping a day of running, I decide to try to get to the track on this day, despite the slick roads. Now...theres a bit of a tricky piece of road right before I get to my house. Basically, you go down a steep hill, then up a steep hill, and then down a small hill and you're at the house.
(I got sleepy and passed out here. Now it's Christmas morning.)
Coming home, I lost traction for a bit going down, but regained it and made it to the house. Expecting the temperatures to warm and the ice to melt, I got dressed and headed to the track. Even though I was going <1 mph down the hill, I lost traction and began to slide, gaining speed. I managed to veer away from the ravine on the left, into Mrs. Weitzel's yard on the right. Got out of there, gave up on running for the day, and turned around in Mrs. Weitzel's driveway. Going back up the hill I had just slid down proved more difficult; I had to try to rock the car back and forth, staying in 1st gear, to try to gain any kind of traction. About 3/4 the way up the hill, I begin sliding backwards, and gaining speed.
There's no feeling quite as helpless as sliding down a hill backwards in your car, with no steering or braking control. I nearly bailed out, for fear I'd go off into the ravine, but in the end I was able to stay on the road. I was sliding so fast that I actually went about halfway UP the opposite hill, before I slid down into the middle of the U. I caught my breath, and tried to make it up again, finally succeeding in getting back to the house after about 25 minutes.
Well it finally warmed up, which brought quite a lot of rain yesterday morning. The once bone-dry lake bed behind the house is now host to a muddy creek with a very fast current, going towards the main body. The sound of the moving water startled me a bit when I went outside last night; I looked for a burst pipe or water main before I thought of the creek.
I finally ran yesterday evening, knowing that if I didn't I'd feel like crap all through Christmas day. This was the first time I'd run in daylight in what seems like several months. The air was perfect...not too warm or too cool, although the wind was a little strong. After I finished my 2 miles, I stretched out and caught up to my breath. I stared at the sky for a short while, and realized just how long it had been since I had stopped to just...look up. I thought of how this town has changed so much, mostly for the worse, since I was young. The sky seems to be a comforting constant; it's just the same as it was 10 or 15 years ago. I'll have to make a point to look up there more often.
That was my plan, anyway. I skipped a few days last week, and had intended to get back on the regular schedule of MWF this week, even despite Christmas. It's funny how, when you start getting into a routine schedule of exercise, one deviation from such can bring about quite a bit of guilt. It ends up being like a drug....like smoking, maybe. This monday, due to a set of unique circumstances, I was unable to run. Due to other circumstances out of my control, I was unable to run Tuesday...either.
On Monday, I had to finish some Christmas shopping. I searched far and wide for that particular microfiber blanket that my mother wanted, but to no avail. I checked on the status of my special gift for my parents...the rock, apparently "soapstone," that I had plucked out of the dry lake bed. About 3.5' high by nearly as much wide, I hoped to have it engraved with our family name by Christmas, to be used as an address marker. (You set it out by your mailbox.) My intent has been to create a family heirloom, as we have nothing else of the sort to carry on the Hurtt name. Why not have it chiseled in stone?
I can't get ahold of the stonecutter on the 22nd.
On the 23rd, I call, they tell me it will be ready later in the day and that they will call me. They never call me, they don't answer the phones. Extremely stressful day at work, atop the guilt of skipping a day of running, I decide to try to get to the track on this day, despite the slick roads. Now...theres a bit of a tricky piece of road right before I get to my house. Basically, you go down a steep hill, then up a steep hill, and then down a small hill and you're at the house.
(I got sleepy and passed out here. Now it's Christmas morning.)
Coming home, I lost traction for a bit going down, but regained it and made it to the house. Expecting the temperatures to warm and the ice to melt, I got dressed and headed to the track. Even though I was going <1 mph down the hill, I lost traction and began to slide, gaining speed. I managed to veer away from the ravine on the left, into Mrs. Weitzel's yard on the right. Got out of there, gave up on running for the day, and turned around in Mrs. Weitzel's driveway. Going back up the hill I had just slid down proved more difficult; I had to try to rock the car back and forth, staying in 1st gear, to try to gain any kind of traction. About 3/4 the way up the hill, I begin sliding backwards, and gaining speed.
There's no feeling quite as helpless as sliding down a hill backwards in your car, with no steering or braking control. I nearly bailed out, for fear I'd go off into the ravine, but in the end I was able to stay on the road. I was sliding so fast that I actually went about halfway UP the opposite hill, before I slid down into the middle of the U. I caught my breath, and tried to make it up again, finally succeeding in getting back to the house after about 25 minutes.
Well it finally warmed up, which brought quite a lot of rain yesterday morning. The once bone-dry lake bed behind the house is now host to a muddy creek with a very fast current, going towards the main body. The sound of the moving water startled me a bit when I went outside last night; I looked for a burst pipe or water main before I thought of the creek.
I finally ran yesterday evening, knowing that if I didn't I'd feel like crap all through Christmas day. This was the first time I'd run in daylight in what seems like several months. The air was perfect...not too warm or too cool, although the wind was a little strong. After I finished my 2 miles, I stretched out and caught up to my breath. I stared at the sky for a short while, and realized just how long it had been since I had stopped to just...look up. I thought of how this town has changed so much, mostly for the worse, since I was young. The sky seems to be a comforting constant; it's just the same as it was 10 or 15 years ago. I'll have to make a point to look up there more often.