Corriendo

Running here is not like running in Huntsville.
There are no greenways.
There are no friendly faces and bikers on three wheels.

Running here is not like running in Chicago.
There is no lake with a breeze.
There are no roller skaters and blossoms falling.

Running here is not like London.
There is no bridge.
There are no long staircases and post-run smoothies.

Running here is an adventure.
There are no rules.
There are no stop signs and rights of way.

Men run alongside traffic of buses, cars and the occasional horse.
Intersections increase heart rate with the unknown variable of who will cross first.

Accomplishment is found when you reach the end of the dead-end
Knowing with certainty you cannot go further.

Hills are smaller; sidewalks are not an option.
It is only the street with nary a painted line to guide.

Branching Out

It has taken me a couple of months to work through one of Amazon's free Kindle reads for April, The Eagle Tree by Ned Hayes.  I'm a little torn on how to frame the review.  In general, I enjoyed the story but to work through the long descriptions of trees by our fourteen year-old main character was tiresome.  I wanted to "leaf" at times and so I did, with the book sitting until I had another long flight, lingering.

When I was younger, I worked my way through a suggested list of 100 classic reads.  I don't know if it was Faulkner or Conrad or Sinclair that broke me with long sentences or descriptive phrases but I don't have the patience.  I want to skim ahead to make progress rather than work through the imagery.

Despite my dislike of this writing approach, however, I think my struggle was important to understand the other character's perspectives in The Eagle Tree.  March Wong loves trees. He wants to talk, think, share, and climb them endlessly.  The evolution of his interactions with others in the story is a strong part of why this book pulls the heart strings in the end.

I did also learn lot about trees.

See Sharp

Teatro Colón
November 2016

There are a number of quotes that reference "the space between" as the important part of music.

As a person "in between" life notes, I tend to agree.

Glasses Half Full

When I awoke this morning
Lo, a speck was found in eye.
And to my normal contact lenses,
I had to say goodbye.

While glasses periodically do wear
Never to the outside disclose
Meaning a new day of adventure
Found striking itself a pose.

First stop to the gym
For exercises focused on back
But already the walk down
Had my balance out of whack.

The periphery ebbs and flows
Like the tide across a ship
And ne'er a horizon to focus
When the sidewalk took a dip.

Cooking lunch was not a problem
With a two ingredient dish
And dicing was successful -
Only one slight near miss.

The sunlight feels extra bright
Though a half-inch glass
Spring is nearer than you think
When you cannot see the grass.