As I was running yesterday I saw something I can't believe I've missed for so long. I've been running in the park across the street the for close to a year now and it's a wonderful, scenic, serene natural park and I continue to be thankful for being so close to such a delightful location to exercise and take in the natural world.
I run mostly on the bike and bridle trails and I usually take the same starting route, changing up the direction only later on depending on if I plan to run longer or shorter that day. So, for almost every run, I've been running by a second entrance that's beside a street with houses along it. It's one of the only areas in the whole park where you can see a few houses. Sometimes I'll run out that exit and go home via the greenway and some streets.
But either way, I've looked at and noticed the few houses around the area with the exception of one. Yesterday I noticed right through some trees just to the right of the entrance was an A-frame house. And I know that A-frame house from many many years ago. I knew it was back in this area, but I didn't realize I'd been running by it for so long. Memories flooded back from my days in junior high school.
There was a boy named Ty. I "went with" Ty for a while. He wasn't in my main class group, but he was really nice and he lived in that A-frame house. He and I passed a lot of notes back and forth. The main topic of conversation was how we were going to kiss each other when we got a chance to be alone. This was a big topic because when we invariably got alone, neither of us had the nerve to actually do the kissing part. Eventually we did manage to kiss, but it took a lot of working up and discussion before we were able to.
He had a birthday party at his house and that's when I went to and saw this A-frame house. I knew A-frame houses existed, but I'd never seen one and I'd never been in one. It was really neat. The walls were on an angle and the whole house felt so cozy.
We had fun at the party and eventually we played spin the bottle. I think it was the only time I ever played spin the bottle. Somehow, as children will do, Ty and I managed to get sent to the closet from one of the spins. But here's the funny thing, I remember the house, I remember the interesting ball chandelier, I remember the woodwork, but I have no idea if we kissed in that closet.
Now that I know it's his old house (I wonder if his family still lives there?) I shall think fondly of him and junior high school every time I run by there.
The Big Boy Update: No NO NO! When he's tired, or he's just woken up or he's cranky, it doesn't matter what you offer him, what you suggest, even if it's his most beloved food or television show in the world, he's going to say, "NO NO!" and be quite emphatic about his dislike of, well, everything. Usually, if you can get him to eat a bit of food, he will calm down and the world will be right in his mind again and he will return to his normal, pleasant self.
The Tiny Girl Chronicles: Scratched. She came home from school yesterday with a large collection of abrasion scratches on her left cheek. What happened? Then we realized it was her warm winter ski jacket that had done it. There was a Velcro patch at the top that, when velcroed together, would keep her neck nice and warm. But in the absence of zipping the jacket entirely up and velcroing the patch, the rough side of the Velcro just tore up her cheek. I've covered that patch of scratchy Velcro and hope we won't have the same problem again.
Fitness Update: 10.25 miles. Yes! I finally felt well enough to get back out and run. It was so nice to run, even in the terribly cold weather, that I just couldn't stop. I did the eight mile loop and then started it over before turning around and coming in right over ten miles. It was mid 30's and even with multiple layers, hat and gloves on I was still cold in my hands the whole time. On the knee front, it felt great (read I didn't notice it at all) until I stopped running at which point walking bothered it a bit. But a few NSAIDs and it's back to happy.
Someone Once Said: Here is the wisdom of the ages: Men rule but women decide.
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