Back in the Outback

A hot, tiresome wind blew yesterday all afternoon, which here is the precursor to a drop in the temperature. The humidity was still at a "low" 75%, but this morning dawned just cool enough to make the park an option again. Besides, you get to miss your training buddies and their moral support.

Of course I forgot that school was in session again, and that meant that at seven a.m. the traffic was horrendous both on and off the running path. Nevertheless, I started out mildly by walking four K with an occasional trot just to get back in the swing of things, after trading greetings and remarks with the team and reporting that there are two kilos less of me.

It was a very routine and mild workout, except for one marvelous event which fulfilled a long-held desire. I've mentioned before those people who dash by you so close that you are in danger of being shoved off the path; they are inevitably going a lot faster than you are, too. As I finished my workout today and marched to the end of the block, I put my hands on my hips and stuck out my elbows. To my surprise and secret delight, one of those near-miss runners didn't miss my elbow today and clipped himself right sharp somewhere in the waist region. He may have apologized but it came out as an incoherent mumble. Ah, these are the little moments that make life fun!

Right outside my computer room window there sits a squirrel in a crook of the magnolia tree, peering in at me, finishing off an acorn; a hummingbird is resting on a tiny branch of the same tree, zipping at the feeder from time to time; and two brilliant yellow and black birds are dive-bombing my chile plants that sit on the patio splashed by the dappled, tolerable morning sun. Are they eating the chile seeds? That is the hottest part of the chile! Random events in a calm life, at least for now.