As I stepped out the door this morning to climb into my truck, the frigid air greeted me by promptly freezing my left lung. Perhaps not literally, but it is cold today. The sun is shining and the snow is sparkling like diamonds carelessly cast across the landscape. Days like this take me back to many years ago to morning runs with my Dad and brother, Matt. For some reason, Dad decided we all needed to start running in the mornings. I have no idea what brought this on – perhaps he wanted to get in shape or he was reliving his days in the Marines, but we would run a couple miles at some insane hour of the morning before school. And we started in the winter. Did I mention I lived in upstate NY?
So there we were, stretching out on these frigid mornings, getting ready to run – both Matt and I being highly reluctant in this process – and there is Dad, all cheerful and positive about running in the middle of winter. One particular morning was just bitter cold, and we started running. He said, make sure you breathe through your nose and out your mouth or you’ll freeze your lungs. The he would wax poetic as he ran. “Look at this day,” he would say. “Have you ever seen anything so beautiful? I love cold days like these when the snow crunches underfoot and there are no clouds in the sky and the sun is shining bright.” He said, “you can always tell how cold it is when you see the snow sparkling like a million diamond suns…”
I’m sure did not appreciate those talks at the time (I was just trying to get through the run without collapsing) but this morning I remembered that conversation as I was driving to work and thinking of my Dad and how much he saw the beauty in the Lord’s creation … even in the middle of a freezing cold 2 mile run.
That is awesome. What fantastic memories. Thanks for taking me there with you on the run. 🙂
I didn’t know this memory. Oh how you must have dragged your feet!!!!
I like picturing this in my head!!! I am still having a hard time seeing
Dad running he must have been feeling super empowered that winter!
Beautiful! I remember when you and Dave Pacheco ran while you did the Body for Life program. And didn’t you run a bit out at Bob’s, through trails or something…?
I’m with Sara, I loved picturing this scene, seeing you rolling your eyes as you wanted to make your dad proud yet couldn’t believe you were actually doing it. Hehehehee!! What a beautiful scene though with the sparkly crusted snow as the sunshine pours out!! Love when memories flood over us!
Yeah Robert and I did run a fun little circuit for a while. And oh yes, Dave and I ran for a while through Winona and also at the Y. I really don’t care for running, I much prefer biking – Dave Carey and I used to go all the time. But maybe I should start pick back up again!
man thats cool! remember running a 5k as a little girl and boy was it fun… i love how you can articulate how you feel on certain issues!!! awesome
-laverne