Howard's End

I think Mom might be on to something there! Danda, if ever there was someone to channel it is your grandmothers! Both alive and in heaven watching over you they are two of the strongest women I know. They are proof that your genes are strong and can endure! You can too for you are the grandmother we will all look out years from now and tell James' offspring what a fighter you are! Mary, I love that comic of the Easter bunny. Every year it comes around and every year I giggle just the same, I'd love to meet the artist! Nora, I think your supernova photo is miraculous. I think someone is trying to tell us something if the supernova kept popping up instead of the hummingbird! I love it! Danda, I know you are looking for something to take your mind far away from reality and I think Nora's suggestion of Three Cups of Tea is a brilliant one. It is an inspiring story to say the least! And if you want an endurance read (no pun intended!) Shackleton is just the thing. Our group leader on one of my Outward Bound trips used to read us passages from the novel at night at the end of a hard day when we all felt like giving up. Those passages sure did put us in our places as we crawled into our down LL Bean sleeping bags. I can't say I would have had the guts to skin a wild animal and sleep in its skin for warmth in the snow or maybe I would have! It is amazing what we will do when it is a matter of survival! Second cup of coffee. I cherish the mornings when everything is still quiet and peaceful so I will write some more as I sit looking out at Mount Tam in the distance on what will become a perfect blue sky day in Marin. Lisa, across the Bay in Alameda, knows what I am talking about! Vicki, this part of the post goes out to you because I know you can fully appreciate this experience. Yesterday afternoon on a crisp Spring afternoon I went for my usual run on what I call my Patagonia commercial run. Once up the hill from the main road the trail winds through a valley in the "V" of the landscape you hit Tennessee Valley Beach. If I could claim it as the 8th Natural Wonder of the World I would! I was determined this weekend to hit my requisite 8 mile mark for my triathlon so I planned to run to the beach and back and then head out on a three mile out and back once back on the main road. But I knew full well that the temptation to quit once my knees began to give out would be too great and I would head for home. So instead I ran back to the top of the hill and began the descent to the beach again. That would give me my extra three miles I needed and with the scenery the option was much more attractive. By this point I had hit my stride and legs loosened. I ran by a white haired man who in an English lilt said, "Wait a minute, I am not supposed to be passed by a girl." I laughed and slowed my cadence. He continued, "But I am 75 so I guess I can accept it." I laughed again and said, "You are a better runner than I if you are running at your age". He said, "Stick with it. Never give up running." I told him, "I already have knee aches and I am half your age. It would be a miracle if I am running at your age." The banter continued and I told him I would see him at the turnaround. He said, "I will wait for you to pass me." At the turnaround I saw him again. I headed to the beach and he headed up the hill I had just come down. "Shit," I thought to myself. He is going to run up that hi. Unbelievable! This is a man with a strong resolve! I ran quickly to the beach and turned around in hopes of catching up to my English compatriot. Around each bend I looked for him, but he was not in sight. Finally on the last long uphill straightaway I saw him, white baseball hat, blue sweatshirt-white polo shirt peeking out. I ran my hardest to try and catch him before the parking lot, but was unable to. Once at the top he stopped and turned, looking for me no doubt. I yelled out to him,"Boy, you don't give a girl much of a chance to catch up, let alone pass you." He said, "I kept waiting for you to run by." I stopped my run to introduce myself and tell him how impressive he was and that I could only hope to be running as strongly as he does at his age. He told me, if you don't slow down and take care of those knees you won't be. He said that he was concerned that I already had knee pain and then his age kicked in. He told me that my generation is so busy outdoing one another and overachieving that we burn out. He told me wouldn't you rather run three times a week for the rest of your life then run a couple of marathons and never be able to run again. I told him he was absolutely right. He sympathized, I know the will to want to run further and longer, it is an adrenaline high. He knew how hard it was to push through those miles and then look back and feel a sense of accomplishment. But he also said it is just as hard to hold yourself back and realize that running for the long haul is a lot more difficult both mentally and physically than cramming it all into one all out push. Endurance can mean so many things I thought! He ended our conversation asking, "What did Robert Bernard Shaw say?" Ummm, I thought, Robert Bernard Shaw, sounds like an adventurer, emmm, or maybe a writer, actor?! I must have looked dumbfounded! "Ahhh, yes...youth is wasted on the young." I laughed. Howard, was this angel's name. Howard is omnipotent! We shook hands and I told him I would run alongside him anytime and would look for him on my Friday runs in Tennessee Valley. I started back down the hill towards the main road and he honked and waved as he drove by. Talk about adding a spring to my step. Vicki, you are the family's Howard-take a run through Kensington Garden. Make it short and sweet and it will last forever! xoxo, Lex