2.7 miles
2 trails
37 / feels like 29
wind: 15 mph
Okay winter. Wore tights under my shorts, a long-sleeved shirt under my sweatshirt, gloves and a buff. The only part of me that was cold: my ears. Now, sitting at my desk, they burn. Blustery out there. Swirling wind. A few times I mistook a falling leaf for a flying bird, which was very cool to see. A brown bird, floating by.
My legs were sore. I’m eager to get my blood checked at my physical in a few weeks. My iron might still be low. Until then, more burgers and a new multi vitamin that’s not quite a choking hazard.
10 Things
- more of a view today: cold blue water through the remaining red and yellow leaves
- slippery leaves covering the trail — don’t fall!
- near the sidewalk at 36th and 46th: a deep hole, dug up by the city workers, not as neat or wide as the holes carved out on our street, more like a gash or a missing chunk ripped out
- walkers bundled up in winter coats with hats and gloves
- the entrance to the Winchell trail, which was shrouded in yellow the other day, was open and bare today
- dripping water at the ravine — drip drip drip
- looking down at the gorge from the edge, a pleasing palette: steel blue, dark green, gray, brown
- a brown leaf fluttering by my face, looking like a floating bird
- at least 3 or 4 lonely, empty benches
- a kid’s voice below — would I encounter them later? Yes
Revisiting a poem I posted on this day in 2020, My Doubt/ Jane Hirshfield, these lines reminded me of something:
the lines:
I would like
to grow content in you, doubt,
as a double-hung window
settles obedient into its hidden pulleys and ropes.
the something:
Dance with the pain
That last one is something I describe a lot. What does that even mean?
from a race recap at the Chicago Marathon — @emmajanelbates
It means to greet the pain or discomfort like an old friend. Know that it’s always there waiting for you. If you accept it, and envision yourself enjoying its company, it’s much more manageable.
Being content with the doubt and greeting pain as an old friend. Accepting doubt and being content with it I think I can do, but befriending pain? I’ve been trying to work on that as part of this larger writing/living/moving project. The pain I’m thinking of is the pain in my knees or my back or my hips, but it’s also other, deeper pains: the pain of aging, loved ones dying, living within a body that doesn’t work as well. Not sure if I’d call it a friend yet, more like acquaintances. I think it’s possible, but what does enjoying the company of pain look like, outside of the model of sadomasochism?