Running on Empty

1. My dog Tater Tot. 

2. Waking up early and catching the sun come up. 

3. A freshly brewed cup of coffee. 

4. When my Mom brings over cookies. 

5. Getting ready for an adventure. 

6. Inside jokes. 

7. Paying off a debt.

8. The satisfaction at the end of cutting my lawn. 

9. The start of climbing a mountain. 

10 Parks and Rec. 

11. The beginning of a race. 

Thomas Jefferson’s ten rules for a good life:

1. Never put off till tomorrow what you can do today.

2. Never trouble another for what you can do yourself.

3. Never spend your money before you have it.

4. Never buy what you do not want because it is cheap: it will never be dear to you.

5. Pride costs us more than hunger, thirst, and cold.

6. Never repent of having eaten too little.

7. Nothing is troublesome that we do willingly.

8. Don’t let the evils that have never happened cost you pain.

9. Always take things by their smooth handle.

November 2nd, 2018

Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in awhile, you could miss it.

The year was 1975, and I was just five years old. It was the middle of summer, and I was spending the week at camp with my family. During the 70’s kids were “free range”, unlike the children of today. Parents let their kids go out to explore the world and to interact with it. One of the other camper told me the story of dead man’s hill. This hill was a steep drop from the camp to the lake below. He convinced me it was worth the adventure of making it to the bottom. I really don’t remember a problem getting to the bottom, it was our accent that proved to be difficult. As I was working my way up the hill, a shard of glass had embedded it self in my right leg. The pain was unimaginable. As a five year old, I hadn’t been yet acquainted with such pain. Miraculously, I made it up the rest of the way.

My parents had been playing softball near the hill. I approached the gathering with blood gushing out of my leg. I hadn’t ever seen that much blood in my life. The nurses station say a few houses away from the field. I was quickly stitched up a sent on my way, leg wrapped my many layers of gauze. The nurse instructed me to take it easy, and no swimming. What? That was my most favorite activity.

It was a long week. Even though my parents had not explicitly forbade me from going down that hill, I knew it was something I shouldn’t do. It’s good for kids to interact with the world. I feel sorry for kids today that have their parents hover over them. It’s good to make mistakes, even if there are consequences. October 28,2018.

Journal Entry for October 24,2018.

To run 100 miles at one time. September 3,2018