Change Is Hard

…but change is certain.

Tag Archives: walk


by 16 Comments

The Crimness of it all

I finished this post on my old blog moments before my server crashed a couple of weeks ago.  The old blog was up for a couple of hours Friday and I copied this from the drafts because I know at least one of you has been waiting to hear about the race.  So here goes!

The last Saturday of August was the 36th running of the Crim Festival of Races in Flint Michigan.  It’s a big race, with thousands of runners, walkers and wheelers.  It brings in big name runners from all over, and it’s a spectacle to watch and even more fun if you get to participate.

This year I walked the 8K (5 miles)…though I was nostalgic as I watched friends head off for the 10 mile start, a race I have done many times.

Heading off for 10 miles of hills and heat.

My race didn’t start for an hour and forty-five minutes after the 10 milers left, and rather than stand around I went back to the car and read a book.  That saved my feet which was a good thing.  Because by the time we set off on our race the sun was high in the sky and it was HOT HOT HOT!

We start out on our own 5 miles.

As usual, this race was well organized and had lots of entertainment.  From the drum group that set the cadence at the beginning of the walk…

Drumming up the excitment.

..to the young band in the parking lot singing “GO BABY GO!”….

GO! GO! GO!

….the woman at the top of three Bradley Hills singing “I never promised you a rose garden…”

No roses were found on the Bradley Hills.

…and the preacher along the way that told us….

Run faster!

“You all are gonna have to step it up if you’re gonna catch up to those Kenyans!”  in reference to the lead runners who had finished long before we left the start line.

All along the way we had entertainment and support from both sides of the road.  Volunteers were offering water, in cups…

Grab some water!

…and from cooling hoses.

Enjoy the shower!

My feet were killing me…but there was a lot of fun distractions…

Girls cheering for us.

…and inspiration.

Inspirational…but a lie.

I’m really glad I did it.  Now I have to figure out what is going on with my feet so that I can start training for next year.  I really want to do the ten miles on the last Saturday in August next summer.

Because I’m lucky enough to be able to.

Finally on the bricks..almost at the finish line!


by 8 Comments

Embracing fall

It was hard to let August go, to feel it slip away.  I tried to make it stay longer but it was like hugging jello.  The more I held on the faster it slid away from me.  It seems August fled from most of us; everywhere I hear people exclaiming how quickly the first days of September have arrived.

I don’t know why I struggled so much with the loss of summer this year.  It’s not as though I have children heading to school so I can’t say that I’m pensive about them growing up.  And I’m not a school employee heading back either.  My work at the bank is the same regardless of the month at the top of the wall calendar.

It’s not that I truly love hot weather, or pulling weeds, or watering, or watching trees we planted two years ago struggle.  My garden produced a handful of green beans and two or three tomatoes.  That’s it.  We bought most of our produce from the farmers’ market.  Our grass was brown for weeks on end and so prickly that even the dog didn’t want to walk on it.

Maybe it’s just that I love the long days and the evenings spent on the deck reading or watching the birds.  But I can still do that for awhile as we head into autumn.  Maybe it’s just the dread of the dark mornings heading to work followed by the dark commute home.  Maybe it’s just the thought of slippery roads, downed power lines, or quick trips out with the dog that require layers of clothes and big boots to be dragged from the closet and worn so that she can prance through the snow to find a perfect spot.

Regardless of why it was so hard for me to let August go this year today I decided to embrace the fall.  I went for my lunch walk through the neighborhood and saw maple leaves turning red and yellow and orange.  Not all over mind you, just here and there.  Hickory nuts had fallen to the sidewalk and asters were in bloom.  People with gardens more successful than mine had ripe tomatoes waiting to be picked, and miles and miles of vine covering zucchinis as big as footballs.  Children were out on the playground, swinging high or chasing a big rubber ball.  The sun shone down and warmed us all.

I admit I was sad to see August go but September has been beautiful so far.  I think I’m looking forward to the change.

Change doesn’t always have to be hard.


by 9 Comments

Went for a walk

The smell of leaves, simultaneously dry and damp, takes me back to my walks to grade school almost fifty years ago.

Robins pull dry fruit from the crab apple trees.

Children are playing across the street in the school yard.  Girl in Pink, obviously the leader of all Girls in Pink points finger at girl in Not Pink:  “We won’t play with you if you keep doing that!”

House wrens swarm up from goldenrod seeds along the bank of a rain swollen creek.

The sky toward the city is glowing as if the sun is setting in mid afternoon.

The clouds ahead are low, gray and in waves, as if the ocean has turned upside down and frozen solid.

The sidewalk at my turning point beckons for me to continue on, but there is too much to do back in my beige cubicle so I turn around.

Past the playground again.  The girl in Not Pink is sitting near the teachers.  The whistle blows and all the children run toward the school.

A worn out orange basketball sits on the sidewalk just ahead of me.  I lob it back over the fence into the playground.

Back past the woods where lots of golds and reds are still glowing deep in the protected interior.

Something runs along the leave covered floor beneath the trees sounding larger than it actually is.

A runner dressed in purple approaches from behind, flat footed feet slapping the sidewalk.

Ears are cold.

I climb up the three flights of stairs to my beige cubicle.

Sweating.