Monday, October 08, 2007

Darkness




It was pitch dark when I left for my run this morning. Dark like the middle of the night with not a hint of dawn. And the thought of going out in the darkness is always awful to me when I hit the snooze on my alarm clock, but the actual running out there in the dark is kind of wonderful.

I have a little headlamp that attaches to my running hat, and a blinking blue light that I snap onto the back of my running hat. There! Now you will always recognize me out there on my runs. No one else has the blinking little blue light. It's great because drivers are used to seeing red lights and white/yellow lights, not blue, unless it's the police! So the little blue light always gets their attention.

As I headed off down the road I came to some very dark places in the road. It was quiet, and kind of creepy/unsettling. At just the moments that I'd get creeped out I'd remember my headlamp and swing it about to locate any gremlins hiding underneath parked cars or up in trees. Nothing is there, of course so I shake off that uneasy feeling. It's only me and the little night creatures out on the road at this time.

Plus it's not long until the inky blackness fades to a grey blue. And the sky lightens to cobalt. By this time I'm usually running through the tony section of town in-between multi-million dollar homes. I don't even hope to ever live here - they will always be out of reach, and anyway, if I had millions to spend on a house I'd buy one next to a trail that I could run on everyday.

Now there are more cars on the road. This is the drawback to the later parts of my run. I so like the quiet of the early part of my run - where I can cross normally super busy roads against the light with not a single car in sight. It makes me long for the solitude of the darkness.

By the time that I'm approaching home again dawn has broken and I've flicked off my headlamp. I feel accomplished. I've been out and about before most of the people that I see on the road were even awake. No matter what else happens today - at least I have this.

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