Commuting

Trying to fit in my daily run is a little challenging, so I have started to run to places I need to go.  I think it is called run-commuting, but that sounds boring and stupid and running to places I need to go is neither boring nor stupid (to me).  I ran to In-N-Out Burger on Saturday.  The kids really wanted to go and my wife craved junk food and In-N-Out is about as good and fresh as junk food gets.  So, I ran there.  It was about six miles and I thoroughly enjoyed the Double Double with cheese and grilled onions (best hamburger ever), fries and a Dr. Pepper.  I also found a new trail on the way that helps me circumvent some of the tract housing between my house and the ubermall where In-N-Out is located (along with Best Buy, Lowes, and I'm not sure but I'll bet anyone $10,000 that there is a Starbucks there as well).

I work from an office attached to my house, so I don't really work from home; I have an office like a grown-up and my office has it's own shower and entry and lock, but the door has a big window in the middle of it, so if my kids want in they just smear their various germs and stickiness all over the window until I let them in.  I have to clean the window every few weeks once it starts to look like a car windshield after a cross-country road trip.  I love my office, but it does get small and I get tired of staring at the computer screen all day, so I am lucky that I have a trail right outside my door.


There is a route that goes down to my mom's house (she lives over the hill a few miles away), so yesterday when I had to drop something off at her house, I threw my trail shoes on and ran. It was quiet on the trail and I was kind of lost in my own thoughts, and not really noticing what was around me.  This happens when I run, and I usually like it because it makes  everything speed up and it makes the miles pass quickly, but on the other side of that, it is also nice to be completely present and aware of what is going on around you.  I like to focus on the sound of my shoes hitting the dirt and trying to make it as quiet as possible, I like to listen to my breath and feel my arms and legs moving as I climb a hill, or feel the out of control, controlled falling as I run downhill and watch the trail in front of me, plotting a course around the rocks and ruts.  Yesterday I wasn't doing any of this, I realized that I had been running for a couple of miles and hadn't noticed anything around me, so I just stopped and listened and it was quiet, no cars, no kids, just nothing, and nothing is a beautiful sound.  There were two hawks circling close above my head and I must have disturbed them because they were just gliding and circling above me and some telephone wires where they were probably sitting because I have seen one there before.  I just watched them fly and glide away without moving, or seeming to breathe; just still and soaring.