ah... a new year

I stretched from the warmth of my bed into the chill of early morning with vivid dreams lingering. The sun would still sleep for nearly two hours, so I received its gift, fumbled into gear, tiptoed into my shoes, and ran out the door. I've been running just because these days.

I returned to the unfinished business of my dreams as I ran down a long, winding road. Along the frontage of a still sea I pondered the meaning, the beauty and potential of life and this year. Beneath towering trees and a veiled moon, I questioned and contemplated and considered connections. I ran and ran and ran in the dark, lost in my thoughts.

In the middle of the road, the run and the instant between two thoughts and two breaths, I looked up. I noticed the black silhouettes of evergreens erect against a now sapphire sky. Although my cheeks, my nose and my fingertips felt cold, my body was warm. Those things at rest were becoming. Nonetheless.

I stilled my mind, dropped my shoulders, settled into my stride and rested my eyes on a small tree up the road and to my right. I ran. I focused. I noticed. The tree was growing... and moving... toward me.

A torrent of tension and apprehension threatened as this shrouded shadow rose and rapidly approached. Then, in a delicious, hilarious and utterly delightful moment, in the quiet of early morning, in the middle of a dark road between tall trees, deep thoughts and bated breath, the "tree" said a most unexpected thing:

"Good morning!"

And with that, a hooded stranger passed me by... on his unicycle.