Sunday, June 21, 2009

Two stages

Another short night of sleep. I fall asleep ok and then wake up a few hours later, mind restless. Luckily, today will be a relaxing day spent at my grandma's doing laundry and celebrating Father's Day.

In high school and college, my journal-writing increased and decreased in direct proportion to the amount of myself that I shared with others. Ideas and events that I share with my mom or friends are less likely to appear on paper. Fewer things are just bursting to get out or need sorted.

I think I'll go for a run :)

Two hours later...

I bought an iPod a couple years ago (an iPod Touch, actually) and love it. As a fellow blogger said, the shuffle function is one of the great inventions of our time. I listen to it on long car trips and on long walks. Unfortunately, I never bought new ear buds and am relegated to using the awful ones that came with them. This means that trying to run while wearing them is futile - they fall out again and again, and it's just not worth the effort. Some day I'll spend the money for some head phones specifically for running, but for now, I'm trying to take advantage of my lack of running soundtrack.

Sunday mornings are pretty quiet around here. No one's congregating on corners, and cars are infrequent. As I ran, I isolated the different sounds I heard: three distinct types of bird chirping, hums from the air conditioners of each house I passed, and a helicopter in the distance. I've written about getting caught up in the "big picture," not seeing the trees for the forest. It can get overwhelming thinking about each tree--especially thinking about them at the same time--but those trees are beautiful. We can't totally ignore them for the forest. There are also simple pleasures gained from each tree and from each bird chirp as long as we take the time to enjoy them.

Mixed metaphors and all.

Happy Father's day!

1 comment:

george rede said...

I agree the shuffle function is one of the great inventions of our time. As for your ear buds dilemma, have you seen the unfashionable but very functional ones that wrap around your ear? I use them all the time, but just yesterday I realized sound was coming out of only one side. Time for another pair! Not sure I would have noticed without your post...
As to your music-free run, from time to time I've resolved to go without the iPod a little more frequently, precisely to open myself up more to the ambient sounds of the woods or wherever else I run. Love your description of the different sounds you heard. Hope you next run is a good one, musically enhanced or not.