Resilience on the Run

Nature is the reason I run.   Every morning, wondering "where are all the other runners" reminds me oh yea, they're at the gym,  in their work out rooms, running on treadmills, hooked up to machines, 'programs', calibrators of all sorts.  Treadmills are running of last resort.   I prefer my mini-tramp to the treadmill.  But luckily I am not shy to tackle SoFlo heat and humidity, and I would NEVER want to run- by choice- anywhere but outdoors.

Ever since I was a child, wandering through the old apple orchard trails behind our house, or following my Dad around as he cared for his fruit trees and shrubs, I have been in love with living plants, trees, etc.   At 16, I took over a south facing corner bedroom and took every house plant my mother had, added some plants from school where I was the student who took care of our coleus greenhouse (it was a very modern HS),  and in no time had a complete solarium, and one more place to hide out as a teenager.

I've moved around place to place always establishing the next set of plants.  Whether is was a handful or full out jungle, like I have now, I could not imagine a world without me in their midst.   Plants, the 'silent' companions, have a Zen-like skill to adapt, adjust and interact with their environment.  As they respond to the conditions around them, they seem to speak to all the elements of the surroundings, including me.   As the 'constant gardener', I pick up their vibe and provide what they seem to want;  in exchange, we cohabit in a world of soft, lush beauty, and soften the sometimes rough edges of the world.

When I run I am constantly scanning the various landscapes I move through.  My usual routes are such that I have endless visual variety; from big old households to empty lots, from the detritus of roadways to golden skies...always something which fills my curiosity, my pull to be swallowed up in the open.  No matter what psychological shifts are going on, and whatever people may do, very few have a chance to really commune with the natural world.   I feel I learn and absorb the Zen-like resilience of Nature every time out on the road, finding my own natural stance on my feet, while moving, extending my balance into the physical world.

Find a tree, a plant, a flower and imagine it's inner world;  how light, gases and that something inexplicable is coursing through it's structure, rooting deep in the ground while reaching high into the air above, circulating the very elements of earth.  There is a part of us always seeking to spread our roots deep into life, while we reach for the unknown.  No matter what is thrown at us, we can be at One with that.