A Night Run

Some thoughts I had while running...started out as a little amateur poetry, but then ended up as just phrases...unpolished but hopefully you get the jist.

If I were a poet with a gift for words
I saw tonight what I'd write about--
Running through a rain-drenched dusk
When the sun is gone, but the light's still out
Seeing myself and the trees above reflected beneath my feet
Pounding across water spread thin over black concrete
Wearing home wrapped around me
Warm and familiar and as ragged as my breath
Feeling the wind on my face carrying water and life and change
Thinking of nothing but the lyrics flowing through my mind
Seeing all the rich colors of twilight brought into sudden focus as the light fades
Caught up in a moment devoid of planning or studying or relationships
All the more precious for my inability to keep it from slipping on by
Then suddenly it's gone and my concentration breaks
But a new kind of rarity unfolds in the air around me and radiates through my body
Suddenly my eyes stop seeing colors as darkness paints everything in shades of gray
My ears take over morphing my breath and the crunch of gravel beneath my feet into explosions that blanket all other sounds
My senses strain to hear the sudden abundance of unexplained and intuitively ominous noises from the darkness of the trees and brush on either side of me
The hair on my neck stands up as the darkness and loud noises of night close in on me
A chill runs up my spine and primitive images of predator and prey flahs behind my eyes
I hear crashing off to my left and in my minds eyes see an amorphous wolf-like menace racing through the underbrush
I find myself clenching my teeth, running faster, focusing harder on this threat-filled nighttime world

That's as far as I got between running and the house meeting tonight. So that's all there is. Not exactly poetry, but glad I got something down b/c it was an amazing run. Stupid--it got dark faster than I'd planned on--and next time if I run that late I'll have to take a friend, but amazing none the less.

Tomorrow is going to be a crazy crazy day--up at 5:30 for a run out to Picnic Point...unfortunately too early to play my favorite morning game...a little something I like to call "Outrun the Navy/Army"--you see the army/navy guys and girls run in groups around 7 most mornings on lakeshore...so my game is that if I see them, I have to be running as fast as them, preferably faster (they don't run that fast b/c they run really far, I think)...anyway, it's always harder when they run up behind me b/c then I have to run hard until our paths diverge, but if they're running towards me, it's just fun to mess w/ them...and the guys all say good morning if they're running alone or in a smaller group so that's fun too...and I saw my instructor from my ROTC class last semester...definitely ran faster than him (I'm grinning right now in case you couldn't infer that)

Anyhow, running, then class from 7:15 until 11, then IB 399 hmwk/library/lunch till 5, then Roundtable (pizza and a movie, yay), then Brit History movie till 9 (not so yay), then back here for a little more work and then crash and it's a brand new day!

Btw, it was sooooo great to be home this weekend. I don't think I got all of my homesickness out of my system yet...and maybe I won't get the chance to...sad...I LOVE MY FAMILY, they're the best and I don't know what I'd do w/o them...they're my rock

In other news--if you don't see me around it's because I'm trying to get a jump start on studying for finals (b/c i have 5 in 4 days...and a few of them actually matter)...leave me a message on my phone or here or on IM or on my whiteboard or whatever and 1) I'll feel special, 2) I'll smile, and 3) I'll get back to you...see, everybody is happy!

Okay, I'm not making much sense now so I'll go to bed