Gray and Rainy

Well, after what seems 100 years, I have returned to my blog!!

Yesterday was another overcast, wet day.  I have to say I love those kinds of days.  I love the sound of rain on the roof and the windows.  I love fog.  I think sometimes of moving to Seattle.  People here say,  "Seattle?  That's a depressing city.  Too rainy."  But, I think I might like it that way.  Maybe.

Anyway, despite the wet, I got out and ran another 5k.  I was very happy to do so.  I ran that one back in the fall, and then hurt my foot and then it got cold and I got into hibernate under blankets mode.  I really needed to sign up for this run and go out and do it to get moving again.  So, I did it.  And I am not really sore at all--rather miraculously. But, it isn't like I haven't been walking and I have been a jogging, biking, hiking person for many, many years. So.

I am also crocheting a sweater (my first ever!) in mostly gray.  I love a mostly gray sweater. The button band will be either a blue or purple color and there's trim to add too.  Hopefully, it will look something like this in the end.

I gave up on knitting the mitts.  I wasted so many hours trying to get one made.  I had it to the thumb and lost my way and had to rip it all out.  I cast on so many times it was depressing.  I couldn't get the thing to join correctly.  I finally quit.  Maybe I was just at the point of breaking through to the light at the end of the tunnel, but I just couldn't go on.  I'll just have to get back to that some other day.

Meanwhile, spring is in the air and today we cleaned up the raised beds and planted sugar snap peas, cow peas, and some bush beans.

I've still a million things to do, but I really want to come back to my neglected blog.

Run

On Saturday morning I ran a 5K.  I used to be a fairly avid runner--at times going four miles a day.  These days I am a weekend runner during the school year.  A daily run is something I had to sacrifice when I started working full time.  I'm just too tired at the end of the day and there are so many other things that take priority.

Well, over the summer, my sister and I got to talking to our sister-in-law who runs marathons (and also works full time and has two children!), and we decided that we'd try to run some 5Ks to keep us going.  So, I started the challenge this weekend. Friday at work, I was thinking, "No, I have too much too do.  I can't put this in on top of everything else.  I just need a rest."  But, by Friday night, I had resolved to go.  And I am so glad I did!

The route we ran took me through memory lane:

-Here is the soccer field we used to come to on those cold Saturday mornings, shivering in camaraderi with other uncomfortable parents, lamenting that we couldn't sleep in.

-Here are the picnic tables the pizzas were delivered to when I was the team mom

-Here is the Boys and Girls Club I dropped my son's friend at.  His mother once picked him up early at our house after a sleep over so he wouldn't miss church.  He had never eaten Chinese food.  He dropped out of school and went to jail, though I can't imagine him that way.  He is still a polite little boy in my minds' eye.

-Here is the place my son witnessed some guys leaving a robbery.  A policeman called our house to ask him further questions about the incident.

-Here is the place where I dropped off my son for a rafting trip.  I was working two jobs and had to send him to camp.  I signed a waiver that acknowledged that rafting was dangerous and could result in death.  I tried not to think about that as I waved goodbye to him and pulled out of the parking lot.

-Here is the shelter that so many times I came to pick up a car full of sweat smelling boys staying out of the rain.

-Here is the route of the Halloween parade.

-Here is the remodeled school, but before it was remodeled we stood in the twilight and watched hundreds of swifts return to the chimney.

-Here is where a man rode a horse into the square at night and tethered him to the bike rack.

I can't believe really how many parts of my life were set in that part of town!  I am glad I did the run, and realize that half the battle of exercise is mental.  I am especially inspired by gray haired people running.  That is what I want to be!  Strong and moving forward.