A Surprise Birthday Gift

I ran past the cemetery today for the first time since, ... well, since the beginning of the month. I figure run past on Halloween morning wouldn't be so bad; it's after the spirits rise at sunset, and settle back in before dawn tomorrow that gets sketchy.

The house with the goofy seashell mailbox was done up well, with just the right amount of orange candles in the windows and pumpkins on the porch. The mist floating across the street to cemetery freaked me out a bit, until I caught the distinct aroma of dryer sheets [although, kind spirits leave the scent of roses as they pass]

It had been awhile since I ran this route, as I said, and certainly not in the deep deep dark, so I couldn't quite tell how far I had to go between landmarks, or even what they were.

Whether it was my new unfamiliarity with my tried-and-true course, or excitement of the day, or because my spex had fogged up; I ran right past the left turn at 2-miles. You see, there was no traffic, so even though Atco Avenue is twice as wide as the other cross streets, unless you're running on the sidewalk [which there is none] or people's lawn, you don't notice the crossing.

"Hey, where'd this field come from? I never notice Atco Ave was ... Oh, well. Looks like I went a bit long."

How much extra? I dunno. I'll call it .4, although running 4.7 today, would have been cool irony.

I backtracked to the wide street and headed up the hill, down the hill, to the middle of town. In the dark, you can't really see inclines and declines; you just feel yourself going faster or slower.

I made my way through some more scary non-lit places [they only put streetlights at intersections down here, and you have to have two streets of certain "popularity" to qualify.

I checked my watch as I passed under a lucky streetlight.

"Really?!!! And how far to go?!!! Quarter mile maybe?"

I set the gearshift for the higher gear of my soul, as they say. Or I found a kick. Either way, my hamstring or sciatica or whatever's been going on back there was screeeeaming!!! If you ever seen "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets," it felt like the shrieks of the mandrakes, as they were pulled from their pots.

I stopped my watch in front of the house.

37:52

Granted, I'm not sure what my detour added, but 4 miles + 0.4, would bring me home at 8:36 ... Smack in the middle of 8:30-Ville.

"Welcome, Rand. We've been expecting you."