After two months or so of battling the latest illnesses to make their round in the local schools and workplaces, I finally was able to run more than three days during a week.
The beagle and I went out Monday and Tuesday. Wednesday and Friday were longer runs. Sunday I hit the trails at the West Virginia Botanic Garden.
I’m mentioned this lovely piece of nature before in regards to its fairy village. Unfortunately, nature took a toll on the village, it looked like most fairies migrated for the winter, taking their homes with them. They haven’t come back yet.
But I wasn’t there to chat with fairies, I was there to run. To get to the garden itself, you go down a steep hill for about 100 yards or so until you get to the main garden area. There is a main reservoir loop of .8 or .72 miles depending on whether you take a side route located near the hill at the entrance.
The other routes include wetland, forest and Tibbs Run. Each vary in lengths — the longest is maybe .5 miles — with the three I mentioned before being the longest.
The goal was to explore every path, and that I did. I got lost a few time when I couldn’t find a marked tree. I crosses a few streams and dodged rhododendron branches. And then I came back to the reservoir loop, boring but pretty, and made it to the main garden. There I picked a bench or rock and did some push-ups, planks, etc.
I came home with a sense of accomplishment. I had been praised earlier in the week for my recent weight loss and running habit. I had hoped to carry the feeling throughout the day.
It was not to be. My kids had a case of the sillies. The sillies make you do stuff like run with scissors or yell while everyone else is taking a nap.
Eventually, all my efforts to wear my kids out only wore me out. I sent everyone to bed early to get some peace and quiet.
In my haste, I forgot a promise I made earlier in the day while I ran. The promise: To accept praise graciously and pay it forward.
I didn’t thank my kids for what they did right, only scolded them for the shortcomings I saw in them. I was so wrapped up in the negative, the good things slipped my mind.
The leg hug and “I love you Mommy.” The hugs everyone gave their injured brother. The fun times outside.
These moments won’t last forever. Soon they’ll loathe me even more than they do now.