Running Commentary

...but I do know what I like. I like this bear! I did go on my 10-mile run yesterday. It's amazing how far 10 miles is when covered on city streets. I made it a three-track run: Berkeley High School, UC Berkeley, and King Middle School. The bear was at Cal, the bees at Berkeley High, and the snake at King. It was a run full of art! Don't know why they say something's the bee's knees. As is plainly evident, bees don't got no knees. Lipstick, yes. News flash--these aren't bees, they're yellowjackets. Therefore, no knees. This one I called the snake, but it's obviously a lot more critters than that. Also, truth be told, it wasn't within view from the track, but it was on the school property. And just for fun here's one more, taken on my 6-miler last Thursday. I'm not normally fond of larger-than-life representatons (think Avedon, whose work absolutely creeps me out), but I found this portrait quite compelling. And it's on display for anyone...

That phrase is sometimes noted as a characteristic of adults brought up in dysfunctional families, as I was. (Trust me, I was. This blog doesn't tell everything about me, y'know.) I find myself questioning whether my normal daily behavior involves a lot of gratuitous excitement-seeking. Why is it often easier to fill my moments, my hours, my days with stressful and "essential" activities than it is to spend some quiet time with myself? Over the past few months I've outdone myself in the excitement department, scheduling freelance jobs on top of my regular job(s) on top of travel on top of social engagements on top of who-even-knows-what. I've been neglecting myself, my home, my family, and my friends, all in the name of things that had to be done. And although I've still been running three or four times a week, my runs have been squeezed in, and I've often been fatigued before I even got out the door. The point is that I've decided to try a differ...

Here he is at five months old, already with a twinkle in his eye. He was the second of three boys. Twenty-one years ago yesterday I lost my dad. Having him gone has been so different than I thought it would be. Before I incurred it, I didn't understand the finality of my loss. For a while after he died I used to dream that I met with him and was relieved to find that he was still alive so I could get close to him in a way I had always wanted to. I haven't had one of those dreams in years. Now when I think of him it is mostly without those earlier regrets and more with feelings of affection for the goodness that lived in him and of sadness for some of the challenges that life brought him. And here he is with his new father-in-law. Photo taken around the time of my parents' wedding, which was September 4, 1934. He sometimes seemed more able to express his love to his grandchildren than he could to his own three girls. Requiescat in pace, RAH, husband, father, grandfather, poe...

Just a few sentences: I'm still here. I've been running a lot (the above is from last Wednesday evening, when I did an out-and-back along the Embarcadero). I've been working a lot. I'm vowing to cut back on the craziness and gift myself with a life. Stay tuned.

Is this a picture or a blank slate? It's merely the foggy sky, sans birds, sans planes, sans sunshine. Funny, the photo is a bit more blue than the sky was this morning. I guess my phone camera wears slightly lapis-colored glasses. BTW, feel free to tell me if you're getting tired of sky photos. For now I'm loving them. Maybe more fun to take than to view? Tiny whine: I'm rrrreal tired of fog. When I set out this morning I hadn't run since last Sunday. Have had a busy, busy week, one in which I decided to lay off for four days (an eternity in runner years--or do I mean dog years?) in order to work on a book with a tight deadline and to study for the final exam in a class I'm taking ( an editing class --probably a good thing). So it was good to be out! Speaking of busy, I'm off to work. Have a good weekend, y'all.

Emeryville Point Park, that is. Which is where I went this morning--about 3 miles out and 3 miles back. Today was the SF Marathon; at one time I had thoughts of running the half but my knee talked me out of it. My friend EB did run it and I'm hoping it went well for him. I thought about him all day long. When I stopped on my run this morning to do my crunches I was treated to the light of the dawn dancing in the oncoming fog. It was the beginning of a special day--the sixth anniversary of my wedding to Z. A blessed day! The only man I've ever met who is almost as silly as I am.