La Saint-Valentin et les maisons jaunes!

Last night I dreamed that I was taking out my trash at dawn and discovered that all the snow had melted and it was 60 degrees outside. This illusion worked wonders for my level of motivation; still imagining spring-like weather and ignoring the flakes that had just stared whizzing through the air (dandelion! milkweed! tornado!), I geared up and tried out my new Frisby wireless mp3 player headphones* for the first time. I first had to dislodge my car that had slid down my driveway into a pile of blue barrels from the marine research lab next to my building. All week my driveway has been a solid sheet of ice, exacerbated by the rain and slightly warmer temperatures this week. I came home this morning and my car, despite my efforts to turn the wheel and sail into my usual parking position, kept heading downward. So pre-run, I went out with a box of kitty litter and made myself little tire paths to get myself back up the incline. Worked like a charm.

So I was off, feeling light and happy, tunes, a little too loud, flowing into my ears. Old County Road, the back road that leads into the town of Pembroke, was still pretty dicey, but given the light traffic was able to run down the center of the road pretty freely. Blizzard conditions had set in, and I watched as the snowflakes began accumulating on my legs. Good thing I wore my hood today. Into about the third mile, I noticed that the clouds and snow were moving, making way for blue skies and sunshine. I was noticing all the houses along the way, looking cozy and wintry, particularly a yellow house I've always fancied, sitting in a wooded section of Garnet Road, a route I use for my longer runs (9 miles out and back). Later on, I could see my landlord's massive house across the bay - another yellow abode - and realized the joy that comes from seeing the color yellow on a winter day. I was thinking, too, about it being Valentine's Day, a holiday I don't celebrate or take seriously, but kind of like, nevertheless. I think it's the time of year, and was just glad to be doing what I was doing. The music was great company, and I was finding it surprisingly easy to do the first 4.5 miles (infinitely less taxing than the 4-milers I'd been doing at the gym), and decided to tack on a little more distance. I just went out and clocked the total mileage in my car: 10.7 miles! Part of me could've gone on for another six or seven miles, but in the interest of productivity, I figured I'd call it a day and just be thankful for a great, substantial run! Happy V-Day!



*Thank you, Dana Mitchell, for assisting me in loading some songs from my computer onto this device. I'm decidedly incompetent when it comes to making sense out of technological contraptions. And thank you, Boot, for suggesting this ingenious and invaluable gadget; I don't know how I made it so long before this...