Cold Nights

Dear Readers:

Yikes! It's cold here. Fetch me my hot chocolate and blanky now. I'm still in that summertime, breezy mood; you know -- find a little downtime, take a walk, jog outside under a warm sun. Today that changed. I could tell something was wrong as soon as I arrived at the recreation center and stepped outside the car to face an icy gust of wind. There's a running track inside the building (I think a thousand or so loops make a mile). My goal was to stay fit and get in some running. But then, I thought about how cold I'd feel once I was done and had to go outside to find my car. That image was disturbing, so I wimped out, retreated, and passed on the running opportunity. That's really lame, don' t you think?

A few years ago, I braved any weather, hot or cold, and ran outside under all kinds of conditions -- the indoor gerbil track was not for me. Others seemed inspired by this old guy who kept up the effort. One time it was fifteen degrees Fahrenheit. All the runners were blowing icy breath-clouds and jumping up and down just to keep warm. We all ran and sloshed through snow and water, and slipped on ice. It was fun. Now, I'm ashamed to say I've become domesticated. Give me a bone and a warm hearth, and I'll be happy. Just don't make me go outdoors where it's cold. There must be something that can shock me out of this stupor.

Until later.