Sun Day = Run Day = Fun Day

I love warm sunny days like today. And now with the saving of the sun I am joyfully surprised again that its so bright outside, even at 7 pm. I decided that a day such as today was a perfect day for a run. So at approximately 6:22 pm I set out on my little neighborhood course under a big blue sky.

For those of you who may be gasping, "Wait...MEL?? RUN??? What about her life motto of 'I hate running'?" Yes, shocking as it may seem, I have finally found the joy of running. I started out slowly, and I'm still working my way up to hopefully being able to run for 30 minutes solid. This week I'm running in intervals of 5 minutes and 3 minutes with walk breaks for a total time of 30 minutes. A couple of weeks ago I participated in my first ever 5k race. I didn't run the whole time, but I think I did pretty well finishing in 37 minutes and 45 seconds. Not too shabby. And the best part is that I had a blast.

I try to change my course a little bit each week so that I don't get bored with the scenery. Tonight I went up my street and over to Azalea Court where I first passed the house with the insta-green-spray-on-lawn. The yard looks like its covered in fur the color that copper turns when it oxidizes. I like to think of it like those spray-on tans, except for grass. I wonder which would look worse in my yard: copper green spray grass or the current muddy slab covered in holes with shards of demolished grass hanging onto to the last possible semblance of life? These are deep curious ponderings...

Next I pass the house I like to call "House of a Thousand Daffodils." I just want to pause here to say that I think daffodils are one of the happiest flowers God made. They just grin at the sky with gladness and wave at me when I run past. Every time I go by that house I want to run over in the yard a pick a whole bouquet full of yellow smiles to take home with me.

Then I circle around on the main road past the Taco Casa (which smells strangely like the state fair to me... maybe its the fried grease...), Fresh Market, Fire Station and 3 dentist offices all in a row until I make it back into the neighborhood. Then I repeat.

As I came down the final stretch towards my house tonight I was thanking God for simple pleasures like running, daffodils and spray-on-grass that make me giggle.

I think running is good for the soul for many reasons, but particularly because it is a metaphor for life and I like metaphors. So I'll end this rambling post with good advice on running (and living) from Shakespeare:

"Wisely and slow; they stumble that run fast." (Romeo & Juliet Act II: scene 3)

(Photo by Zed.cat)

Tis The Season For TV Christmas Specials

So, I began thinking about this last week when I was sitting on the couch with my roommate. She was flipping through the TV channels when we briefly landed on the last 5 minutes of that famed Christmas special, "Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer." Rudolph saved the day by guiding the sleigh in the storm with his nose. And then came the scene of the Island of Misfit Toys. The misfit girl doll and the Jack-in-the-box were sitting around a fire and were so sad. Then Santa came, despite their doubts, and rescued them on Christmas Eve! And before I knew it I was crying. I looked over at my roommate and saw that she was looking at me as if I were from another planet. "What?" I said. The look on her face said it all. "Seriously? You're crying?!!" she said. Then we both began to laugh. She won't stop making fun of me. I don't know what it is about these TV specials that make me cry, but they just do! I was reading an article online today about Rudolph by Rick Goldschmidt . Here is a quote that makes me laugh:

"The number one question that we get asked about the special is: What is wrong
with the MISFIT GIRL DOLL? Arthur Rankin answers this question on page five of my book. Apparently, her problem was more psychological than physical. "

Here's a list of a few other TV Christmas Specials that make me a little weepy:

1. Charlie Brown Christmas - I cry throughout this one, but especially when Linus recites Luke 2 at the end.
2. How the Grinch Stole Christmas - when the Grinch's heart grows three times its size.
3. Frosty the Snowman -when Frosty melts.
4. A Chipmunks Christmas - when Alvin can't afford to get the golden harmonica for his friend, AND when he gets better in the end and they play together.
5. Mickey's Christmas Carol - when Scrooge sees that Tiny Tim dies in "the Christmas future."

Maybe I am weird. Maybe I am just a girl. I think there is something resembling the beautiful story of redemption in all of these holiday shows and that is why they make me cry. Maybe we should pay more attention to them.

My friend Paul has officially dubbed me "a weeper." Well, after all, Jesus wept. And so did the misfit girl doll. So at least I'm in good company! :)

Ever clearer...

"The books or the music in which we thought the beauty was located will betray us if we trust them; it was not in them, it only came through them, and what came through them, was longing. These things -- the beauty, the memory of our own past -- are good reflections of what we really desire; but if they are mistaken for the thing itself, they turn into dumb idols, breaking the hearts of their worshippers. For they are not the thing itself, they are only the scent of a flower we have not found, the echo of a tune we have not heard, news from a country we have never yet visited."
-C.S. Lewis

Jesus - Emmanuel - God with us,
This is my request: give me clarity in my longing! Father, hear my prayer.

"Thy purpose of eternal good let me but surely know;
On this I'll lean -- let changing mood and feeling come or go --
Glad when Thy sunshine fills my soul, not sad when clouds o'ercast,
Since Thou within Thy sure control of love dost hold me fast."
-John Campbell Shairp