today i went on my first run of the year, and it was... different. the last time i ran was in early fall, and the last time i ran outside was last spring. so today was difficult, but not discouraging. the rain was just starting to intensify as i left the house, and for the forty minutes i was out, the sun never came out and the trails only got more soupy. but even though i only have cotton running clothes--no high-tech synthetic fabrics to keep the moisture wicked from my skin--the run turned out to be surprisingly refreshing.
after i made my loop, and i was starting to slow down on my way back home, i ended up jogging on a part of the trail that i'd never seen before--and it was beautiful. the creek rushed alongside me, only about four or five feet away, and the dense trees were covered in mosses and lichens in the way that you only see in old walt disney forest scenes, and the birds, invisible in their roosts above, were singing in as many different tones and rhythms as the languages you'd hear in new york city.
and it was strange, because i became my ten-year-old self for a few minutes, and i imagined myself as one of those birds, the drops of rain flecking my feathers, the warmth of my nest contrasting with the sharp cold of the air, the neighbors and nest-mates calling and responding in a communal commentary on life, whatever it meant at the moment.
call me a romantic, but the experience effectively turned my soul over for the first time since it'd settled in that familiar crippled position when winter started.
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