5:30 am just isn’t what it used to be.
When I was a DC resident, my 5:30 run involved conversations with bored security guards, motorcades , a National Mall at its emptiest and most peaceful, police helicopters, occasional protests, and, most importantly, random meetings with the wide assortment of characters you meet wandering around downtown DC at 5:30 am (sometimes good, sometimes bad and always a little bit strange).
As an Arlington resident, my 5:30 run involves doing my best to not acknowledge the other stone-faced runners who are doing their very best to ignore me as well, running around all of the overachievers rushing to be the first in the office (yes, there are actually people going to work at 5:30 am), and dodging cars pulling in and out of the Gold’s Gym parking lot (there have been a couple of close calls). That’s about it – guarded interactions with people who are basically just like me….introverted, focused on completing the task at hand, and, (let’s face it) a tad unfriendly.
Yes, it’s probably a safer run and, yes, I’m still getting the same workout, but I do miss the feeling of taking those first few steps out the door and wondering just what (or who) I was going to run into….just what (or who) was going to force me out of my comfortable me-centered universe…just what (or who) was out there in the “great unknown” of early morning DC.
The “great unknown” of Arlington is pretty much whether or not there will be something new in the window at Ann Taylor Loft. Now, I’m not saying that’s not exciting because it totally is, but the answer to the big question has been the same for the past 3 weeks - an unnaturally thin model wearing skinny jeans (just in case you were curious).
It was that poster which led me, one day last week, to spend the majority of my run thinking about clothes – more specifically about what I was going to wear to work that day.
It went something like this:
The black skirt? – it’s dirty. The other black skirt (with white stripes) – I don’t really like the shirt that goes with it. The black pants? – I think I may wear too much black. You know, black is just easier because you can mix and match but I don’t want people to think I’m depressed because I’m totally not. I do have some brightly colored shirts so it doesn’t seem as blah. How about the green blouse? It’s going to be pretty hot today, so the green blouse may be too warm and sweat marks are gross. It is pretty cool in the office with the a/c so it could work, but what if I have to run an errand or something.
(Are my thoughts boring you? Yeah, they are pretty boring to me too…which is why I miss the DC run.)
The gray skirt? No I already wore that this week – on Monday (duh). The purple skirt is nice but the shoes that go with it are uncomfortable. The gray pants – gray isn’t much better than black (blah).”
“Don’t do it!”
Stunned out of my very important internal dialogue, I came to a halt mid-stride while leaping off of a curb and into the street (which is, as you can imagine, is a little bit awkward…especially for somebody who can fall pretty easily in the best of conditions) and looked up to see a woman staring at me with a stern look on her face. She was much older than me and wore a big yellow hat (a bit of a shock that early in the morning). She was carrying a very full looking purse, which I imagined was full of massive amounts of Kleenex and hand sanitizer.
She was not happy with me.
“I’m sorry…what?”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you – I wouldn’t cross that street when the sign says do not walk.”
She was completely correct…I was at an intersection and was about to cross a street against the light. I was about to do something illegal and I acknowledge that.
The thing is, this particular intersection is a light at the top of a one-way off ramp. Cars come off of a road (a road which can be busy at times, but generally isn’t at 6 am), drive slowly up a long hill and arrive at the intersection. Basically, you can see any cars coming from a good distance away and they are usually coming very slowly because they know there is a light at the top of the hill.
So, yes, crossing against a light is illegal and unsafe, BUT if you’re going to cross against any light in the country, this one isn’t a bad choice.
“Oh, well I didn’t see any cars and….”
“God is watching you. God is always watching.”
Oh boy...here we go.
“He sees everything and He remembers everything. Are you a Christian?”
From the mixing and matching of black pants and green blouses to the existence of God is kind of a big leap at 6 in the morning and I was still trying to recover from the effort it took to not fall flat on my face in the process of stopping the moving object (that had been my body) in mid air.
Now, I am a Christian and I do have things say about my beliefs…and my personal view of God…and even maybe God’s feelings about crosswalks…but, given my confusion and the time of morning, all I could muster up was a half-hearted “…yes ma’am, I am”.
“What kind?”
“I’m sorry?”
“What kind of Christian?”
“Umm…I’m Lutheran.”
The look on her face suggested that this was the wrong answer – or at least an answer of which she did not approve (understandable – this is Virginia, not Minnesota).
“Are you baptized?”
“Yes”
“Do you go to church?”
“Yes”
At this point, another morning runner came running up to the light, glanced over at the woman (who was 100% pre-occupied with me at the moment), listened for a second, and bounded across the street as fast as possible, smiling at me as if to say “better you than me”.
Jerk.
“Do you go to church regularly?”
“Pretty much every Sunday" (completely true, by the way, I was not lying - although, I would have said it even if it weren’t true because this lady was not messing around) "...and my father is actually a pastor so…”
“I hope you are speaking truthfully because God is a just God - He sees and He judges and He knows and…”
I missed a bit of what she was saying at this point. I was trying really hard to remember all of the books of the Bible, all of the commandments, and maybe a Creed or two (I expected a few questions to test my authenticity – we were clearly moving in that direction) when the light turned and the woman in the yellow hat and I crossed the street (legally). She blessed me as I took off for the rest of my run, which was very nice and, apparently, something she felt I was very much in need of (but, who isn’t right?).
It would be kind of cool if I could end this blog with a story about how later in the run, thanks to the words of the woman in the yellow hat, I stopped at an intersection (one that I would normally run through) and a MACK truck came out of nowhere, plowing through exactly where I would have been running had I not met her. That would be an excellent way to tie everything together - with the revelation of a presence (whatever that presence is for you) which is larger than all of us and can be seen at the least likely times and in the least likely places.
The truth is that I ran through the next light, and the next one, and have run through many more since without incident.
Don't count out miracles, though - after all, someone managed to bring a little bit of DC back into my 5:30.
When I was a DC resident, my 5:30 run involved conversations with bored security guards, motorcades , a National Mall at its emptiest and most peaceful, police helicopters, occasional protests, and, most importantly, random meetings with the wide assortment of characters you meet wandering around downtown DC at 5:30 am (sometimes good, sometimes bad and always a little bit strange).
As an Arlington resident, my 5:30 run involves doing my best to not acknowledge the other stone-faced runners who are doing their very best to ignore me as well, running around all of the overachievers rushing to be the first in the office (yes, there are actually people going to work at 5:30 am), and dodging cars pulling in and out of the Gold’s Gym parking lot (there have been a couple of close calls). That’s about it – guarded interactions with people who are basically just like me….introverted, focused on completing the task at hand, and, (let’s face it) a tad unfriendly.
Yes, it’s probably a safer run and, yes, I’m still getting the same workout, but I do miss the feeling of taking those first few steps out the door and wondering just what (or who) I was going to run into….just what (or who) was going to force me out of my comfortable me-centered universe…just what (or who) was out there in the “great unknown” of early morning DC.
The “great unknown” of Arlington is pretty much whether or not there will be something new in the window at Ann Taylor Loft. Now, I’m not saying that’s not exciting because it totally is, but the answer to the big question has been the same for the past 3 weeks - an unnaturally thin model wearing skinny jeans (just in case you were curious).
It was that poster which led me, one day last week, to spend the majority of my run thinking about clothes – more specifically about what I was going to wear to work that day.
It went something like this:
The black skirt? – it’s dirty. The other black skirt (with white stripes) – I don’t really like the shirt that goes with it. The black pants? – I think I may wear too much black. You know, black is just easier because you can mix and match but I don’t want people to think I’m depressed because I’m totally not. I do have some brightly colored shirts so it doesn’t seem as blah. How about the green blouse? It’s going to be pretty hot today, so the green blouse may be too warm and sweat marks are gross. It is pretty cool in the office with the a/c so it could work, but what if I have to run an errand or something.
(Are my thoughts boring you? Yeah, they are pretty boring to me too…which is why I miss the DC run.)
The gray skirt? No I already wore that this week – on Monday (duh). The purple skirt is nice but the shoes that go with it are uncomfortable. The gray pants – gray isn’t much better than black (blah).”
“Don’t do it!”
Stunned out of my very important internal dialogue, I came to a halt mid-stride while leaping off of a curb and into the street (which is, as you can imagine, is a little bit awkward…especially for somebody who can fall pretty easily in the best of conditions) and looked up to see a woman staring at me with a stern look on her face. She was much older than me and wore a big yellow hat (a bit of a shock that early in the morning). She was carrying a very full looking purse, which I imagined was full of massive amounts of Kleenex and hand sanitizer.
She was not happy with me.
“I’m sorry…what?”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you – I wouldn’t cross that street when the sign says do not walk.”
She was completely correct…I was at an intersection and was about to cross a street against the light. I was about to do something illegal and I acknowledge that.
The thing is, this particular intersection is a light at the top of a one-way off ramp. Cars come off of a road (a road which can be busy at times, but generally isn’t at 6 am), drive slowly up a long hill and arrive at the intersection. Basically, you can see any cars coming from a good distance away and they are usually coming very slowly because they know there is a light at the top of the hill.
So, yes, crossing against a light is illegal and unsafe, BUT if you’re going to cross against any light in the country, this one isn’t a bad choice.
“Oh, well I didn’t see any cars and….”
“God is watching you. God is always watching.”
Oh boy...here we go.
“He sees everything and He remembers everything. Are you a Christian?”
From the mixing and matching of black pants and green blouses to the existence of God is kind of a big leap at 6 in the morning and I was still trying to recover from the effort it took to not fall flat on my face in the process of stopping the moving object (that had been my body) in mid air.
Now, I am a Christian and I do have things say about my beliefs…and my personal view of God…and even maybe God’s feelings about crosswalks…but, given my confusion and the time of morning, all I could muster up was a half-hearted “…yes ma’am, I am”.
“What kind?”
“I’m sorry?”
“What kind of Christian?”
“Umm…I’m Lutheran.”
The look on her face suggested that this was the wrong answer – or at least an answer of which she did not approve (understandable – this is Virginia, not Minnesota).
“Are you baptized?”
“Yes”
“Do you go to church?”
“Yes”
At this point, another morning runner came running up to the light, glanced over at the woman (who was 100% pre-occupied with me at the moment), listened for a second, and bounded across the street as fast as possible, smiling at me as if to say “better you than me”.
Jerk.
“Do you go to church regularly?”
“Pretty much every Sunday" (completely true, by the way, I was not lying - although, I would have said it even if it weren’t true because this lady was not messing around) "...and my father is actually a pastor so…”
“I hope you are speaking truthfully because God is a just God - He sees and He judges and He knows and…”
I missed a bit of what she was saying at this point. I was trying really hard to remember all of the books of the Bible, all of the commandments, and maybe a Creed or two (I expected a few questions to test my authenticity – we were clearly moving in that direction) when the light turned and the woman in the yellow hat and I crossed the street (legally). She blessed me as I took off for the rest of my run, which was very nice and, apparently, something she felt I was very much in need of (but, who isn’t right?).
It would be kind of cool if I could end this blog with a story about how later in the run, thanks to the words of the woman in the yellow hat, I stopped at an intersection (one that I would normally run through) and a MACK truck came out of nowhere, plowing through exactly where I would have been running had I not met her. That would be an excellent way to tie everything together - with the revelation of a presence (whatever that presence is for you) which is larger than all of us and can be seen at the least likely times and in the least likely places.
The truth is that I ran through the next light, and the next one, and have run through many more since without incident.
Don't count out miracles, though - after all, someone managed to bring a little bit of DC back into my 5:30.
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