Dawn Over Boston

[marcusmarcusrc]

The geese stare, unflappable and imperturbable, accustomed to the bizarre morning ritual that these crazy humans perform every day in the service of the Great Deity "Exercise". The sound of panting, the slap of sneakers against concrete, the steady shuf-shuf-shuf of pant legs rubbing together accompany me as I push past the burn of the cold pre-dawn air. A few songbirds have woken to greet the lightening sky. Across the river, through the filter of the gloaming, the reds and yellows and greens of the trees on Killian Court remind me of nothing as much as the dioramas and model railway landscapes of childhood (does anyone remember what is used to make those?). Keep on pushing, don't slow down. Don't be disheartened by the four MIT ROTC members who blow past as if they were Energizer Bunnies. On the return leg I am rewarded by the Boston skyline silhouetted against a gradation of oranges fading into a blue sky. A sliver of moon struggles to stay visible. The streets begin to fill with cars. Finally, I reach the stop sign by the Science Museum where I started, and I slow to a walk, spent. 31:16, 3.8 miles.

Also, in David Lindsay-Abaire fan club news: I got to have dinner with him (and two dozen other Milton alumni) two weeks ago, and he remembered me! (I think his comment was "my god, you were a baby the last time I saw you"). I also read another of his plays (The Devil Inside), and yet again wonder at the contrast between this affable, sweet person who I remember and the totally insane and drugged out universe of his scripts. In any case, in honor of High Fidelity and my dawn run, here is a Top Five List of Best Dawns:

1) Huddled under a blanket, brushing off the snow, sipping Karkady bought from the Bedouin hut, waiting for a break in the clouds atop Mt. Sinai.
2) Dashing up a hill, hoping for a break in the clouds (is this a theme?) with a carload of graduates students hoping to get a little of the Hawaii experience before returning to our atmospheric chemistry conference.
3) Epsilon Theta retreat, Cape Cod, on the beach, Easter morning. (I remember it was Easter because two beaches down there was an Easter service happening) (Runner-up: Uncle Matt used to always try to lead dawn expeditions on retreats. I think I woke up for some of them...)
4) Intervale, before we rebuilt the cabin: I snuck out of the yurt before anyone woke up and found a rock in the woods to perch on, communing with the green, moist, living air.
5) Any number of Christmas mornings as a child, padding downstairs while clad in my red footie pajamas to shake presents and attempt to divine their contents while waiting for my parents to wake up (the one morning of the year when I would reliably be up before them)

Comments

[rjpb.livejournal.com]

You should write more. :)

[marcusmarcusrc.livejournal.com]

See, I've only got 1/2 of the Golden Rule down. I'm all set on the "don't do unto others as you don't want done unto you". I'm not so good on the "I like reading everyone else's snippets of thoughts and descriptions, so I should provide my own for the enjoyment of the community". I often feel somewhat rather self conscious posting to livejournal, because do people really want to read me rambling on about running?

ps. Thanks for the comment. =)