Scatter my ashes here...

Scatter my ashes here...
scatter my ashes in the desert...

Monday, January 9, 2017

Of Philosophers and Kings...

Things are always bigger than they appear.

Life is one of those things. At one moment you might think you've got it figured out, contained in a finite space, and it spills over and gets messy. It lives on, taking on a meaning and life of its own, and you might never find out how it got out and where it went.

I was busy experiencing the pure joy that found me on Sunday as I ran twenty one-mile loops around Grandview Cemetery for my long run. I started early in the morning and had the silence of the place to myself, just a sea of headstones quietly covered with snow.

I enjoy the loops because it is a form of meditation, a spiritual practice of sorts, allowing me to clear my head and make room for clearer thoughts that come in. I think the ability to do this type of running, that many people find monotonous, is great for a creative person. It's refreshing mindlessness that leads to just the opposite, mindfulness.

So many ideas come to me on these loop runs, and I let the thoughts flow in and out, and they usually come back at a later time and I write them down. Many of them are just clearer or different perspectives on ideas, events, or experiences.

I've missed this. Maybe that six-day adventure is still ahead of me. I don't know yet.

It's always interesting to see what people leave on their headstones, any way they wished to be remembered, or that their families chose to engrave in the granite.

When I'm in the cemetery I think about the stories and people that I knew. I remember patients. After all these years in Fort Collins there are quite a few. Around the perimeter of the cemetery it's a one mile loop and I count as many as half a dozen former patients. If I venture into the inner roads of the cemetery, there are many more.

I remember the stories and the details come back, what happened, how things did or did not go well until their end.

I think about the content in my book. If more people would think about what life and quality of life means to them, before they get sick, then maybe we would spend less energy making a mess of things and ruining the quality of the time we are here.

I do know that there's a sense of peace in there, among the symbols of the lives that happened, and have now passed, that is a reminder of reality and mortality, and it's a beautiful reminder. We don't have to feel entitled to eighty or more years on this planet. We can go gracefully and accept less if we live each moment fully and true to ourselves, our values and those we love.

That's all.

Sunday, January 1, 2017

Happy New BlogYear Ten

I can hardly believe I am now going into my tenth year of writing this blog.

I started the New Year off at 3:20 am with the girls face fighting on my head. Fortunately I went back to sleep. I went over to the Runners Roost fun run, which was about a 2.4 mile 5K, which I ran at a fast pace, I was able to run sub 9 minute miles, something I don't do very often anymore. I could still talk, not easily, but I could have a conversation.

Last night we celebrated New Years in the Azores time zone, which put our celebration at 6 pm our time. Perfect, since we were in bed by 8 pm. I found myself missing Across the Years this year. It's been a while. I need to get back there eventually.

I hung out at the Roost for a while, socializing and telling people about my upcoming workshop, and then I came home. I wrapped up this week with a little over 40 miles of running. Awesome.

I stopped over at Warren Lake on my way home to look at the scenery. It is, after all, the first day of spring. I could hear the ice melting on the lake, that gurgling sound that reminds me of whales. I don't know if that's what whales sound like, but that's what I think of when I hear it.

A running friend came over with her daughter to meet the girls, and Dennis went down to see his mom. I got a little writing done, and now I am tired, ready for a nap. I don't think I'll be getting enough sleep for quite some time, until the girls can both sleep through the night.

I am looking forward to reviving the blog this year, I want to have more of a focus on health-related running issues, things that affect both women and men but of course I can speak much better for women's running experiences. I'll be adding more video content too. I want to do more running, of the suburban adventure-type, so there will be more stories about that. When I say suburban I mean, outside of the city of Fort Collins, which includes some awesome scenery and trails.

Since I'm writing my book this year, I'll probably drift into a few healthcare-related tangents and maybe even some good rants here and there.

And of course, the Stay-At-Home-Dog-Mom chronicles.

Happy New Year. I wish each of you the best of fun and health in 2017.