Occupying My Running Shoes
So I did run this morning. I'm still interspersing some 1-minute walk breaks in between 3- or 4-minute stretches of running, but the overall effect is that I'm in constant motion--a good thing.
I left the house around 6:20 am--purposely late enough that the sky would be light early on in the run. I headed east up the (gradual) hill and made a left at Milvia, heading north. It occurred to me that I could check out the Occupy Berkeley encampment, so I went left on Allston Way, and there it was. Not a lively bunch at that time of day. I find the Occupy movement a complicated subject, a subject I can't express my feelings about in a sound-bite-length sentence.
I am in favor of what Thoreau described as civil disobedience. In his essay of the same name he wrote, "The progress from an absolute to a limited monarchy, from a limited monarchy to a democracy, is a progress toward a true respect for the individual." It seems to me that respect from this country's establishment for the individual rights of honest, hard-working people is what those identifying themselves as the 99% are seeking. I support all who dare to stand up and call attention to themselves when the establishment, which both the law and common decency call upon to act with integrity, fails to act in a way that advances the collective good.
However, I'm not in favor of "disobedience" without the "civil." I'm not in favor of people who demonstrate their rights by trampling on the rights of others, people who break windows and destroy property and inflame those around them by the violence of their childish tantrums. So that's where I stand: in favor of occupying and also not so much in favor of occupying.
I left the encampment to its Sunday slumbers and loped on down the (gradual) hill.
I had it in my mind to do 4 miles today, and I was only slightly over 2 at this point. It meant I could swing north again and check out progress on the extension-in-progress of my favorite little Berkeley trail, which follows the Santa Fe right of way but is currently developed over only three blocks. Imagine my joy when I saw signs that another two blocks will soon be developed, to the north of the existing three.
Also imagine my joy as my Garmin showed me I was going to make my 4 miles--and I was feeling a little fatigue in my injured parts (also known as my butt) but no actual sharp or scary pain. Four miles is not a long distance, but for someone who was having trouble even walking pain-free just a month ago, 4 miles is a gloriously long way.
I love the little map I can download from my Garmin after a run. It's the kind of map a bright first grader using CAD might draw.
I left the house around 6:20 am--purposely late enough that the sky would be light early on in the run. I headed east up the (gradual) hill and made a left at Milvia, heading north. It occurred to me that I could check out the Occupy Berkeley encampment, so I went left on Allston Way, and there it was. Not a lively bunch at that time of day. I find the Occupy movement a complicated subject, a subject I can't express my feelings about in a sound-bite-length sentence.
I am in favor of what Thoreau described as civil disobedience. In his essay of the same name he wrote, "The progress from an absolute to a limited monarchy, from a limited monarchy to a democracy, is a progress toward a true respect for the individual." It seems to me that respect from this country's establishment for the individual rights of honest, hard-working people is what those identifying themselves as the 99% are seeking. I support all who dare to stand up and call attention to themselves when the establishment, which both the law and common decency call upon to act with integrity, fails to act in a way that advances the collective good.
However, I'm not in favor of "disobedience" without the "civil." I'm not in favor of people who demonstrate their rights by trampling on the rights of others, people who break windows and destroy property and inflame those around them by the violence of their childish tantrums. So that's where I stand: in favor of occupying and also not so much in favor of occupying.
I left the encampment to its Sunday slumbers and loped on down the (gradual) hill.
I had it in my mind to do 4 miles today, and I was only slightly over 2 at this point. It meant I could swing north again and check out progress on the extension-in-progress of my favorite little Berkeley trail, which follows the Santa Fe right of way but is currently developed over only three blocks. Imagine my joy when I saw signs that another two blocks will soon be developed, to the north of the existing three.Also imagine my joy as my Garmin showed me I was going to make my 4 miles--and I was feeling a little fatigue in my injured parts (also known as my butt) but no actual sharp or scary pain. Four miles is not a long distance, but for someone who was having trouble even walking pain-free just a month ago, 4 miles is a gloriously long way.
I love the little map I can download from my Garmin after a run. It's the kind of map a bright first grader using CAD might draw.
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