saleeeeeeep...

This week has been sick. For me it's been torturous almost. I've not received much blessed repose at night and the tests are disheartening to say the least. Of course, that means it's probably been a week that everyone else is already used to. I'm just getting into the normalcy of life-sucking stress and chaos. I want to move to South America. Ease, slow, calm, chill.

Once every few ticks of the clock there occurs a conversation with another dying human being such as to stimulate one's thoughts beyond the bold territorial borderlines of daily grind. I was the monkey in the middle of just such an event this fine Friday evening. From Escher to bike trips to streaking, topics flew by like the streakers in the stories and we were entranced by it all. Unable to arouse our reluctant prisons out of the sitting position, we talked and dreamed on while the hour hand lapped itself on the clock and the world grew one hour younger.

How is it that the thought of man can run in so sloppy a line and still realize its deficiency, reveling in the wonder if it all the entire while? I know not, but am thankful for such a gift as the mind that came with the added bonus of the body with which to live out the dreams of the chirping wires in all that gray matter. Or whatever.

It's late and I'm tired. A normal consequence of an exhausting, but in the end quite fulfilling day. There is much to think about while so little chance of finishing thoughts, it's no wonder we were created to live forever. I wonder that God can contain it all.

The sun can come back another day (Priscilla Ahn)

I just had a swell run in the rain.

Initially, it was simply a drizzle. I thought to myself: self, this ain't no thang. You can run in a slibble dribble and come out fine. Little did I know that the slibble dribble was deciding to become a flurrycane hurricane in about twenty minutes. Of course, by then I was well on my way to Ringgold and decided to just live with it. After all, I've taken dozens of showers over the course of my life and haven't really regretted any of them, even though I was soaked at the end of every single one.

So I ran.

And it felt great. The lightning made me a little nervous, I'll admit. I prayed every half mile or so, probably, that God would remember to keep an angel next to me to push me over in the event of a stray lightning bolt or automobile. Them suckers were flying today. And splizashing me with their silly tires so that soon enough I was drippidy drip dropping with bountiful rain from above. I was listening to my mp3 player, too. Hoping it wouldn't shock me. Thankfully, once I got back I realized that it could swim, so that was no big deal.

Standifer Gap is a beautiful road to run on. Plenty of curves and little hills that make for variation in soreness. At one point, I thought my hamstrings were going to go buttery stiff on me, but luckily, I just bounded a little boundier and went a touch faster and it was ok. The rain sure can spur one on.

I saw Tim and Josh.

The day wouldn't seem like it could get better. But it did already because I am using a silly bomb-proof laptop from the McKEE LIBRARY (blatant yellow letters, remember?) and sitting with my sitting pals Justin and Tim and listening to my musical hero Aaron Roche. And what do you know: I'm going to play soccer in a couple hours.

Paul said he finished the race. It sounds like it was a fight, this race. And it sounds like the prize is better than any medal or shirt you might get at some marathon or adventure race: the crown of righteousness. Someday, even if it's raining the whole way, I'm going to finish my race, too. And I aim to gain that prize.