Life Without Running

This year ended with some unexpected turns. I got a text informing me that Smitty had a heart attack on the 8th of December and had to have a stent put in. He was home alone and thankfully dialed 911 before he passed out. Just another scary reminder of how fragile life is. I checked in daily by text and then on the 16th got to go visit him at home and take him on a couple of errands before we went back to his house and took a short walk. It was cold but with a beautiful blue sky that contributed to our conversation about appreciating things when/while we have them. Speaking of which I noticed a tree on our walk that was amazing. It was so large that I thought it was several but saw it was literally one huge tree when we got to it.  My final “race” of the year was the next weekend a 5K, The Jingle Bells Run in Eugene. It was a fun event and surprisingly I had my fastest race of the year. The race was my 19th of the year certainly more than I expected. I ended the year with 96 since ...

From the book, Open Road : A Midlife Memoir of Travel Through the National Parks  by TW Neal “I’ve worked on myself to let go of expectations and enter into now. Expectations are the number one reason for unhappiness. Contentment is a choice, and joy comes from gratitude. I was thankful to be here, to have this experience, and to understand these things. Returning to them brought peace.” I copied that quote on the 4th of December. Today is the 11th and I had every intention of getting back to this post and finishing it before today but I’ve kind of been in one of those Seasonal Affect Disorder funks that the colder, darker weather can put me in. In order to keep it somewhat at bay I’ve done little things to at least feel like I’m getting things done and I’ve read a lot.  I’ve also tried to make myself take Charlie and get out more even if it’s just a brief errand to check off the “list that’s never finished”. There is a recently planted grove of trees at Dorris Ranch in Spring...