Sunrise

This is one of those mornings that I live for. It is about 5:30, I have a cup of my favorite coffee steaming in my goofy green coffee mug. The coffee mug that reminds me of the coffee cup that appeared on cork coasters throughout my house as a child, signaling the presence of my mom in the living room or kitchen or bedroom. Always the same cup.

The birds are beginning to sing, the sun is just beyond rising, and the spring day is going to be beautiful.

Every spring and fall, LH and I sign up to run a couple of road races. Sometimes 6ks, sometimes 5 milers, sometimes (rarely) half-marathons. This morning it is a 5k. Neither of us are very fast (though I did get a trophy once for being 3rd in my age group at a 5k---let's just say that the field was VERY small), but there is something invigorating about running through the car-empty streets of your city with a couple hundred or thousand other folks early in the morning. The cityscape is amazing in these moments. Space alters. The inhabitants of space change the space in a way that is heightened during these road races. Streets clogged with exhaust fuming cars are transformed into tree-lined, flowery pathways populated by convivial conversations of walkers, smiling and waving joggers, and the regular panting effort of runners.

There is community here in a way that I struggle to discern in my everyday sleep walk through the habit and routine of grocery shopping, errand running, and commuting. For the few hours of race registration, waiting for the race to begin, racing, and cooling down, there is a sense of unity among strangers.

Perhaps this morning of mornings I am more aware of the beauty of jogging through Spring with LH because of a few calls that woke me out of my silly preoccupations with myself and my petty struggles. I chatted last eve with my very good friend, Bowling Girl, and listened as she described her father's failing condition in an ICU. The best that the doctors can say at this particular moment is, "Don't give up hope." She is not. She inspires me. In the midst of the fear and possible tragedy, she lives in hope and still views the world in terms of its humor and possibility.

Yesterday was also the day that I talked with a friend whose family is struggling through the devastation of suicide. A boyfriend of a family member ended his life.

I am also thinking of other friends who are in the midst of mourning their losses, struggling through the need for comfort, the distance from friends, the lack of time and space to grieve.

I am going to take my cue this morning from Bowling Girl. I am going to pay attention to the blooms and the buds, the smiling companions, and the cheering spectators.

Spring.