Seasons

I didn't sleep well last night, and when my alarm went off at 5:05, I really really really did NOT want to get up and go for my run. Especially because it was 14 degrees, the trails were surely icy, and my kids had a two-hour school delay.

But I'd told Evelyn I'd meet her at our usual place at 5:45, and she was skipping a class she likes to run with me. So I dragged myself out of my nice warm comfy bed, put on my layers of gear, went downstairs and called her, hoping she'd want to blow it off too. But she was also dressed and ready, so after hemming and hawing a bit we decided to just do it.

By the time I got there I was wide awake. It didn't feel as cold as it is, and it was so absolutely peaceful and beautiful I realized yet again the best side bonus about running. You get to see and enjoy nature at its most pristine and lovely, before anyone else. (Well, we did pass a few hardy souls, including one crazy guy riding very slowly down a big icy hill on his bike!) Just after a snowfall it is especially quiet, except for the crunch crunch crunch of our shoes on the trail. Entire fields of dried wildflowers looked like ghostly pompom trees as the sun came up.

We all lead such nonstop busy lives. I know without a doubt that if I didn't get outside several mornings a week at dawn, I'd never even notice the seasons passing by. As it is I can hardly believe it's March -- wasn't new year's day just last week? Running helps me keep track of the time that seems to be flying by. It helps me notice summer change to fall, fall to winter and winter to spring. This feels to me like a big important thing that is otherwise so, so easy to miss. I love that about running.