The Ocean is Calling Again

It seems as if we have just returned from Atlantic Beach and now we are leaving again ("You're leaving already?" our running friends said on Saturday), this time for Duck in that northern part of the Outer Banks that we love so much -  the true OBX (Atlantic Beach refers to itself as the SOBX).  It has actually been more than a month since we returned, and during this period of time we have managed to attend to all sorts of business, from filing income tax returns to attending to various appointments with doctors and dentists.  We even managed to put down pine straw around the hostas and other perennials in the yard, spread compost on the garden beds and turn them over, and prepare the herb planters for when we return in May.  All is in readiness now for planting gardens and enjoying summer dinners on the deck!

Although I ran ten miles last Saturday, my knee is still a little sore, and I have decided to take that medicine which all runners dread more than any other, time off:  a solid week of rest between my last run in Highlands and my next one in Duck.  Martha has injured herself slightly, too, probably from overly-energetic work in the yard.  So we have decided to scratch the 5-K race tomorrow and (probably) the half marathon next weekend.  There will be other races, including one in Edenton while we will be out on the coast, and we would both enjoy running races when the risk of injury is low and the expectation of a competitive finish time is high.

So there is something new on the little blackboard in the kitchen which reminds us of something old:  the age-old call of the ocean.  We have been heeding that call, to that same part of the coast in Duck, since 2001, never missing a year, and we have stayed in the same house for ten years.  My running clothes are already packed and we are ready to go!  So there will be no further posts until we arrive.