Oh, how I ache
It was a beautiful spring today, all budding green trees and cherry blossoms, but by the time I got outside to enjoy it (and run), I was one big ache from standing all day. I can handle the talking all day (not much of a stretch for me, plus I drink lots of water), but standing ALL DAY LONG in heels (even low ones) makes me ache all over. The only shoes I want to be wearing for that long, while standing, are my running shoes, and I think even that would get achy (ache-y?) after a while. So running this evening started out pretty rough.
The cops were out in force when I left work today. All the way down Constitution Ave, they were ticketing cars parking along the curb. (Parking there ends at 4pm for rush hour.) I saw one woman dash across six lanes of traffic, in the middle of a block, to plead with the officer writing her a ticket. For a second, I thought she had to be crazy to run across Constitution like that, with so many cars on the road, but then I realized rush hour is the best time to do it. We were all basically parked.
I spent a few minutes during my run this evening playing with a neighbor’s dogs. This neighbor lives at the opposite corner of the neighborhood from us, but I run by their house most days, and I’ve met their dogs a few times. Vader is the sweetest black lab. Adorably friendly, low energy, nice dog. Their other dog is an energetic yellow lab named Xena, who was the most adorable puppy. I know, they’re all adorable, but she really was. So when I went by, Vader met me at the top of the fence. He jumped up to reach me and licked every part of me he could reach (mostly my arms, but a few swipes of his tongue got my neck). Xena, though, proved herself to be the smartest dog I have ever met. She had a tennis ball in her mouth, and when she jumped up and put her paws on the fence, I reached for it so I could throw it for her. She pulled her head back and jumped on the fence, and then crouched down in the same spot, put the ball on the ground, and rolled it to me in between the slats in the picket fence. I picked it up, threw it, she fetched, and on her way back, she jumped on the fence again (kinda bounced off it) like she was marking the spot, dropped down, and rolled the ball out to me again. We did it over and over again until I decided I need to keep running. So smart!
And that reminded me of the little girls I met last week when I was running with the dogs. We were coming down the sidewalk towards a little girl and her dad, and when she saw Roxy and Riley, she ran behind a tree and told her dad she was scared. I slowed to a walk and reeled the dogs in, but as we got closer, she crept forward. I stopped and asked her if she wanted to meet them. She looked at her dad, who said it was okay, and she came over. She shied away from Riley (he’s way too big for little kids, even though he loves them (to EAT! (Except not really. The eating part. He does love them, and he’s pretty gentle.))) and went straight for Roxy. Now, Roxy doesn’t care about people as a rule, but she doesn’t mind being petted by kids, so she just stands there. Tolerating it. She’s the perfect size, though, so kids always want to pet her. It’s her destiny. Or her doom. Or, you know, just something she has to deal with.