run on sentences

I have never ever taken my ability to get out there and run for granted.  Running has gotten me through all of the ups and downs of my life, including the death of both my parents and other loved ones, bad diagnoses from friends and family and the letting go of the job I had for 35 years.   it has been a constant in my life for many years, while other parts of my life have come and gone.    I started running when Kseniya was a baby, just to get out of the house because for a while I was a stay at home mom and I needed an outlet.  I have been running ever since with a brief pause for the aerobic craze. I have learned to love running for the sheer joy of it and not care too much about how fast I run or for how long.  I have a rule to never leave anyone behind - if I invite someone along and they are slower than me, I stay with them.  If someone is having a bad day, I stay with them too. I have done about 35 marathons and many 1/2 marathons as well.   Okay so I am always happy when

There are many words that can describe joy or happiness.  "Alegría" in Spanish,  "Ilo" in Finnish, and "freude" in German for example.  Babies show joy in their expression and it is so pure and honest that no words are necessary - in any language. They use their entire body and it is hard to fake that.  Babies don't know how to fake emotion but unfortunately, like we all do, they will learn it eventually.   baby joy...my sweet grandson Desmond enjoying life My grandson Desmond sometimes seems so overcome with joy at many, sometimes unexpected things (like shaking a lamp and playing patty cake).  He  just about erupts with baby happiness, alegría, ilo, freude - whatever you want to call it.  It spills out of him -  all you need to do is make a funny face at him or say a word like "pow" or "yakabuski" and he laughs hysterically. Sometimes his joy is not as loud but still apparent in his little face.  He smiles happily wh

A few days ago I spent several hours at O'Hare airport.  As far as airports go, it is one of the biggest. b I prefer Minneapolis for friendliness and shops and walking around, but O'Hare is a great place to observe people and invent stories about their lives.    I must have walked about three miles (since I didn't get my morning run in Rockland that day) and here's a few things I observed/made up/hallucinated: 1.  People being pushed in wheelchairs or being driven in those little carts always smile apologetically at you when you look at them - unless they really NEED the wheelchair/cart.  Usually the apologetic smiley ones look pretty damn healthy and maybe just want to get to the head of the line. 2.  No one should ever blow their noses into a cloth napkin in a restaurant.  This shows a total lack of concern for the poor person that has to clean up and/or do the laundry.  Boogers do not come off in the wash and stick to other things.  People who do this probably nev

In my hometown, as long as I can remember, people sat on the main street watching cars and talking about the state of affairs in the world, politics,  local government, and probably other people in the town.  Mostly it was kids just hanging out watching the few cars that went through town, and other times it was people sitting outside the bar.  Back in my childhood there were two bars, one on either side of the street, across from each other.   The one remaining bar is a gathering place for people in the town and many others who come for the good food that is served there by the good people who work there. For several years the street gathering was a little more predictable. When my dad was still alive, a friend of his picked him up each night at around 730PM.  I can still see him sitting on the steps on their house,  waiting for his ride, his hair neatly combed and his best blue t-shirt on and a jacket just in case it got cold.  Sometimes his ride didn't show up which was disapp

Yesterday Barbara Jean and I decided to go visit my mom and dad at the Rockland Cemetary where their ashes are buried and mingling together in this beautiful, well kept place that houses many of our old friends and relatives.  Years ago, when my grandma and grandpa  were our only close relatives down here, my mom, sister and I would  bring some beer and coffee and drink a beer with grandpa and some coffee with grandma.  We hadn't yet had a "crabby" with mama even though she has been down here for two years now.  Our dad didn't drink (hadn't since he was 38 years old - but did his share beforehand) but I am sure he wouldn't mind if we did. Crabby juice is just whiskey and pepsi.  Barb has "crabby cups" that are nalgene bottles (yes I know they are not supposed to be good for you now) she got from the mill where she worked before she retired and before they closed down the mill.  She used to bring my mom one every night when she was alive.  We prepar