Mothers Day Run

Somewhere between fantasy distances and not rolling out of bed,  I found the right level of expectation as I geared up and headed out the door, greeting a lovely, calm, warm morning for Mothers day running.
The beach felt a little out of reach right now,  so instead I headed west for the north stretch of 40th which hooks back into Griffin for the 'long'- er loop.   It has been a while since I caught this road, and by the time I rounded out from Emerald Hills, I had a nice rhythm going,  patting along the quiet streets and glad I wore my hydration belt for a few sips of water as things heated up. 

40th is a wonderful, woodsy stretch at the bottom,  opening up at the top,  a feeling of a 'lost' trail' in the midst of outer suburbia, even if briefly, often just enough to give me that blessed relief from human congestion.   Heading east into a stiff wind,  I managed to keep up a slow and steady gait, much to my surprise.  I eat more on the weekends than my spartan diet during the week, which I realize I need to pull off any kind of a longer run.   So head to the winds I was patting myself on the back as I made my pit-stop at Publix.   Connecting with Ravenswood,  settling nicely into that long stretch,  I rounded things out at Park and gave myself a walk break for the last bit,  happy to know that I had enough umph to get out there and put some miles into my day.

It wasn't so much my mother,  or Michael or anyone else that came to my mind, although all of that was swimming under the surface;  it was the glorious reach of Our Mother Earth into my awareness with all Her creative elements-  wind, sun, warmth, scents, movement, bird song, the lush abundance of plant life which feeds everything....Her generosity overcomes me.   I shed some tears feeling Her pain of mis-use, Her tolerance for all human abuses,  and Her over-arching purpose to put it all to use in transforming Herself from old paradigm, to New.

When I run, I become another creature of Nature.  I am divested of all the identities that keep me limited in the physical, and free to express the pure movement of my heart, legs and lungs as they carry the essence of who I am and might be all along the winding trails of Her infinite planes.  As I often do,  I sail off into the heart of it all,  soaking up the visual confirmation that I, too, can 'see' as She sees...only beautiful challenges, and changes underway.