A New Day

Last night my boss was defeated in his re-election efforts. John and I stayed with the staff until 1:00am or so. At least I had the good sense to switch to drinking water around 10:30pm.

When I laid down in bed around 1:30am I said to John, "It's already a new day."

It was a rough night. I saw many friends, people I respect, dedicated public servants lose. I watched as a young man who works in my office, a person with a disability, sob as he thanked my boss for the privilege of working there.

This morning I kept the promise I made to myself, that no matter what happens I would run. I woke up after a fitful, short night's sleep feeling like I got hit by a bus. My sweet Amelia found her way into our bed around 6:00am and the morning routine began. I saw John and the girls off, put one foot in front of another, got dressed and hit the trail.

I ran a slow 3 miles. I had a lump in my throat most of the time (being reminded of Murakami's observations, "What exactly do I think about when I'm running? I don't have a clue. On cold days I guess I think about how cold it is. And about the heat on hot days. When I'm sad I think a little about sadness. When I'm happy I think a little about happiness.") and pondering what might come next.

What does a person do when they don't know what else to do? I guess it's good to start by going for a run.