Groundhog Day

I went out onto the dune-top deck early today to do my morning Tai Chi, when I suddenly because so terrified by the bright sunshine that I nearly ran indoors, thus condemning the entire East Coast to another six weeks of winter. 

Yes, it sounds a little weird, doesn't it?

I was happy to learn that Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow in Pennsylvania today, and so he predicted an early Spring.  I hope his dubious prediction comes true, because the older I get the more I dislike cold weather.  It's not just the cold, because a resourceful runner can bundle up against nearly any condition.  As Highlands Hiker owner David Wilkes told me last winter (see blog of last February) when I stopped by his store mid-run to buy a ski-mask on one especially vicious, windy day, "There is no bad weather, only inadequate gear." True, he is in the gear business, but he has a point.  I have run comfortably in light rain or snow while cars passing by have looked on aghast.  It is more the chance of slipping on ice or snow that I worry about; I'm already injured, and I don't need any additional injury now. 

So I suppose the older I get the more I have really come to understand and appreciate how wonderful the opportunity of being out of doors has become, and especially this gift of running that does so much to heal the body, mind, and soul.  So this winter break in Atlantic Beach is especially welcome because we can be out of doors, out in the fresh air and the sunshine, being more fully ourselves. 

Dr. George Sheehan said it well (courtesy of my friend J. P. Krol in his blog High on Mt. LeConte - http://www.highonleconte.com/daily-posts):

"What running does is allow it to happen. Creativity must be spontaneous. It cannot be forced. Cannot be produced on demand. Running frees me from that urgency, that ambition, those goals. There I can escape time and passively await the revelation of the way things are."