Spring Run Off

Sometimes, as I have talked about here often, you just have to run for a bit to clear your head (everything head related will now be a bad pun, see previous post). Spring in New England can look like winter or summer, depending on the day. Last week, it rained until we all lost hope in the sun. Easter week-end restored it, somewhat analogous to what the week-end is supposed to be about. Yesterday, I had enough with bugging out, and decided to hit the trail.

Everyone should have one run that restores their faith in themselves. I have a couple but only one that is nearby. To be a faith-restorative run, a couple of qualifications have to be met:

1. It needs to be beautiful in a way that reminds you that you are not the center of all patterns and motion.

2. I like my faith run to be a bit dangerous...some errant roots and a raging river bring me some peace.

3. It absolutely should be longer than what you are supposed to be doing....I ran 6 miles yesterday and it took every one of those miles to get the job done.

I am now a slow runner. I have to keep my heart rate down, which is a bit of a drag but yesterday my slow pace allowed me to notice some things and talk with some wonderful people. I noticed that the normally ambling river had quite an attitude thanks to all the rain from last week. As I stopped to take the above picture, I thought of that rushing water, carrying all the debris from the storms and rinsing itself clean. Can a river cleanse itself? I hope so.

I passed two elderly men (barely) who were animatedly talking with each other. One tipped his hat to me and said "Isn't it beautiful young lady?" I unplugged and stopped for a moment to ask where they were headed with the picnic basket....One said that they take a picnic to the bench in front of the old woolen mill and eat together on nice days. I saw them on my return enjoying their lunch. Life is good if you allow it to be.

So, I ran myself right into a state of equanimity which is still going strong today.

Peace to you.