Morning Adventures Part II

Deep inhale. Slow exhale. Let's go.

The breeze is stiff and cold mimicking the way my legs feel. I jump a little to get the blood flowing and to remind my feet that they need to be awake for this. As I make my way to the end of the driveway doing arm stretches I learned in gym class circa 1987. Arm circles are totally what I need to do to prepare for the workout ahead.

One more deep breath knowing it will be my last full intake for a while and I begin. Pat, pat, pat, pat. I watch my feet move one in front of the other, almost not having to think about it but feeling tired already. I make it to the end of the block before my knee starts to freeze up and my ankle tightens to compensate. Stupid ankle. I push on trying to take in the early morning and savor it's innocence.

There is no one else out on the street but me. My neighbors are awake but they had the sense to remain indoors with their warm cups of coffee and their comfy couches. I see the windows glow with the flicker of the television set on the morning news or perhaps the infomercial on from the channel being watched the night before. That vacuum is amazing I must admit but I am sure the only purpose it serves this early is as background noise for teeth brushing and face shaving. I wonder how many of those vacuums they sell at 5:10 in the morning...

The yellow house with the brick mailbox catches my attention as the lawn sprinklers come to life. Someone doesn't understand that grass doesn't need to be watered twice a day this late in the fall. Oh well. I jog past the streams of water, being soothed by the soft shhhhh of the spray. I race the overflow in the gutter to the corner and make the turn thinking here would be a good spot to stop and take a breather but I hear my high school track coach's voice in my head telling my to "pick your feet up" and "mind over matter". He was also the science teacher so he used that last one a lot.

I take the advice to heart and press on. A dog barks which of course on this block leads to all the dogs barking at each other. Once the chatter dies down and I focus again on my breath or lack thereof. The road stretches out ahead of me, beckoning me to conquer it. Just you wait road. You'll get what's coming to you soon enough.