Sneakers and Wine

Change. It is possibly one of the hardest things to learn to accept And yet, life continues to push us on right through change whether we learn to accept it gracefully or go kicking and screaming into it.  I’ve paid a little more attention to our New England Autumn this year.  I spent as much time as I could find outside, surrounding myself with Mother Nature’s masterpiece of change.  I noticed a few things I may not have paid as close attention to before.   Some trees were quick to change color, maybe prematurely, but they seemed eager to escape the green leaves of summer with enthusiasm for what comes next and trusting the process of change,  and I almost didn’t notice them  change.  The leaves on other trees, would be changing, while parts of the leaf remained green, almost unsure but allowing the beauty of autumn to change them none the less.  Other trees seemed to hold on defiantly to their green leaves,  maybe fearful of the unknow...

One of my earliest memories as a child is going with my father to the track early in the morning and what I have over the years remembered as the Good Morning Birds.  I was very young, not more than four years old.  I didn’t want to go because I thought I’d be bored.  My father told me if I was good, I’d get to see these special birds wake up and fly out of the pond that sat just beyond the fencing of the track. It must have seemed exciting to me at the time because I went along with my father and I clearly recall being happy about it.  The sun had not yet completed it’s ascension to usher in the new day  and the sky was painted in colors of yellow and pinks and purples and navy.  I chased my father around the track and then stopped at the final turn where the pond was.  I pressed my face hard against the chain link fence, looking through to the pond and only saw a green layer of slime and some lily pads.  It was still and silent.  Nothi...

Today was the last mile of my daily winter warrior challenge of running at least one outdoor mile every day. Sometimes, a lot of the time actually, I ran with at least one friend, conversation making some of those colder and darker runs seem to fly by.  And sometimes, I ran alone, enjoying the quiet but usually on the days I run alone, I think.  I think about everything from my to do lists to grocery lists to the workouts coming up to organizing the kids and work.  My brain stays busy focusing on all the other areas of my life while I mindlessly breathe and place one foot in front of the other.    Today, being the last official day of my personal challenge, I wanted to run alone.  I wanted to do something today with this 90th mile that I rarely do.  I wanted to intentionally stop thinking and be. I wanted to savor every step of this last mile. I wanted to not reflect on anything or make any lists.  This was harder than I thoug...

 My initial intention was to publish this post last Saturday during the snowstorm, but I found I needed to allow my thoughts of this particular run to settle and allow the words to come instead of forcing and searching for expressing all I wanted to express in this post.... A few weeks ago, I saw a post for a Winter Warrior Challenge.  The challenge entailed running or walking at least one outdoor mile for the month of January.  Today will be Day 43 for me of this challenge.  I made a commitment to extend that challenge through the duration of winter.  I began the challenge running the first few days in shorts in New England!  And then there have been days  I’ve worn so many layers I felt like a snowman trying to run with hand-warmers stuffed in my gloves and a hood tied over my hat.  Often, I am blessed with a friend willing to meet me at 5 am to run this mile in the dark and cold before our crossfit class.  No matter how muc...