With apologies to Matchbox Twenty, I’ve
seen signs of people who aren’t unwell, but may be just a little
crazy!
It started when I went running this
morning. On Wednesdays, I usually run up & down the hills of
downtown Marquette for 40 or 45 minutes. It’s a great workout, and
I get to use the city as my own personal jungle gym, which is kinda
cool, too. It was only when I started running down the first hill
that I noticed the snow and ice from this past weekend on the
sidewalks, and then heard Loraine’s voice in my head saying, and I
quote, “Are you sure you want to do this”?
As happens quite often, she was right
(or at least the voice in my head was right), so I ran back up a hill
and made my way through the city to the Fit Strip, where I figured
I’d do a couple of laps on the trail. Like the sidewalks, there
was a little snow on the trail, but it wouldn’t hurt anywhere near
as much as it would if I fell on a concrete sidewalk.
Take that as gospel from someone who’s
done both.
Anyway, about halfway around the first
lap I noticed something in front of me on the trail. Like I said,
the trail was covered with an icy dusting of snow--no more than half
an inch--but in front of me on the trail I noticed a set of cross
country ski tracks. That’s right; there were just a few flakes of
snow on the ground, and someone wanted to ski on them.
I can’t say I’m surprised; after
all, hardcore cross-country skiers rank just below hardcore mountain
bikers in their desire to be out on the trails. And I don’t blame
them. As I’ve said before, cross country skiing is the one thing
that keeps me sane during an Upper Michigan winter. But to go out
skiing on a rocky trail covered to a depth of five or six flakes of
snow?
That takes a special kind of hardcore.
In fact, that might even take a special kind of crazy. I mean, I
love skiing, but I always wait until there’s enough snow to groom a
nice set of tracks. After all, while I love skiing, I’m probably
not good enough to ski on anything less, and if I heard Loraine’s
voice in my head while running down an icy hill, I can just imagine
what she’s say if I tried skiing on dirt powdered with snow.
But that’s just me. There are some
people out there who are good enough on their skis and who have extra
sets of equipment to allow them to try gliding along the snow-covered
dirt. And good for them. If I was that special kind of crazy, I’d
probably try it myself. But as we all know, my special kind of crazy
(sadly) doesn’t extend to feats of athleticism. So I guess I won’t
be joining anyone who skis the Fit Strip the next time it’s covered
by five flakes of snow.
If nothing else, I’m sure Loraine’s
voice in my head would approve of that.
****
Make sure you have yourself a great
Thanksgiving. There won't be one of these tomorrow, but I'll have
something (kinda) new for Friday. I'll be on the air then, too, if
you're bored out of your mind and/or pooped out from shopping. See
you then!
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