3-4 Thursday .2

Don’t look too closely. This 3-4T was actually written on a Friday morning. Okay, but I thought about all this yesterday.

1: It Can’t Be, But It Is

My nephew graduates from high school in a few weeks. This is not possible. He is still two and wearing a denim blue hat, matching jeans, a white turtleneck, and a red Christmas sweater (on Easter Sunday). I’m sure of it. When he walks across the stage to get his diploma I know I’m going to see him reaching for Tata-Head.

2: Last Dance

Almost exactly a year ago I sent my brothers an email describing a day I had spent at the hospital with my parents. The day had been difficult, but as Mom and I readied to leave late in the evening Dad rallied, rose from the bed amidst a tangle of wires and lines, and offered his embrace to his wife who quietly accepted. Without moving, they stood together as if in a private and forever dance. No words were spoken. It was the sweetest thing I have ever seen.

3: The Second Time Is the Hardest

Yesterday, I ran up a 1/2 mile hill four times. This is what I do once a week to get ready for the hills of San Francisco in July. I will work up to five repeats in a couple of weeks and then stay at that level the for the rest of my training.

That’s not me in the picture, but it is a cool picture, don’t you think?

I can tell I’m getting stronger because when I’m not running on hills I feel better. Great. But, here’s the thing. The first time up the hill is fine, the second time kind of sucks bad, and the third and fourth times are okay. Why is that?

Seems to me that the last one should be the worst, but it never is. Wait, I kind of get that because the last one is THE LAST ONE, but why isn’t the third one harder than the second one. I know there is a simple answer somewhere, but I haven’t found it yet. I have an idea, though. I’m going to run them in reverse order next time to see what happens….

3-4 Thursday

Okay, I admit it, I got this idea from another blog. But it might just work for me, too. Instead of having a fully formed idea--which doesn’t happen often enough--on some Thursdays I’ll just share three things on my mind. Or, maybe I’ll just try it this once…

#1: Tornado > Run

The first thing I do when I wake up is listen to the weather. I don’t mind running in most conditions. In fact, I really like running in rain and snow. But when I heard that there was a tornado sighted in Lansdowne, which is not very far from where I live, well, I didn’t run today.

Normally, Fridays are a day of rest. Tornado on Thursday > Rest on Friday.

#2: $5 Worth, Please

To the attendant my dad would say, “$5 worth, please,” and he’d get most of a tank-full of gas, the oil checked, and the windshield wiped. Yesterday, I put $72 worth into my car. Pumped it myself. Couldn’t find the squeegee to do the windshield. Not sure how to check the oil… Oh, I guess one upside was that while I was filling the tank I could watch highlights from last night’s installment of “Entertainment Tonight” on the pump.

#3: Time Flies

I made a joke yesterday based on the film, “An Officer and a Gentleman,” that no one really responded to favorably. You see there was this maintenance guy on his hands and knees diligently scraping the dirt and grime out of a floor panel in our building. I said, “he must have done something bad.” Does anyone get that immediately? No? Free boonies for the duration. Nothing? I want your DOR. Get it? You can kick me out, but I ain’t quittin’?

I guess that movie came out 30 years ago. I got nowhere else to go.