Afton Diary, Dec. 10

I counted my lucky stars (and planets) this morning as I started my very first run on the Blue Ridge Parkway. I began before the brunt of the rush-hour traffic. The only things moving were these deer in a meadow (aka truck stop for deer). BTW, do these deer know they are grazing at taxpayers’ expense? That’s government grass growing there, not free enterprise turf (though I could swear I saw one with a Starbucks logo on its antler).
Running in the morning requires several stages of effort. The first is getting out of bed. The second is staying out of bed. The third is drinking enough coffee so that you feel like a booster rocket on the Soyuz. The fourth is dressing appropriately. I wear several layers. Two tips for novices–be sure to wear a hat that will cover your ears (antlers do not constitute good ear protection) and gloves for your hands (I actually wear a pair of old socks–better than mittens).
The Blue Ridge Parkway is perfect for running. The road slopes gently, the woods shield you from the wind and the views are spectacular. On this particular morning, I would rate the sunrise–on a scale from 1 to 10–as a 42. I know that’s a harsh judgment, but hey, this thing happens every day.
The road was all mine for the first half of the run, and I decided to upgrade the scenery when I caught a glimpse of the lunar eclipse. As I stopped to stretch at the turn-around point, the first car of the day puttered by. And guess what–the guy had a cellphone pressed up against his head.
Didn’t he know–that’s not good ear protection.