Starlit

This whole week has been full on Autumn in North Carolina, complete with frosts, chilly winds, and the last of the crop harvesting. Alas, the cotton has finally been picked, the stray poof littering the side of the street.

For some reason, I found the site of cotton just before picking to be beautifully, gloriously comforting.

At any rate, this morning, when I woke, tipping the cats out of my slumbering lap, I was not thinking about beautiful cotton, I was panicking at the tickle at the back of my throat.

I looked in the mirror after my shower and gave myself a stern talking to:

This is not the beginning of a sinus infection, you will drink tea and green juice today and you will not wake up Saturday morning feeling like crap.

On Sunday, I had planned to do yoga on Monday and Wednesday and do some easy runs Tuesday and Thursday. In a flash, I started talking about reneging on this plan. The air is dry. I will encourage the sinus bloom if I run in dry air. All the while, I talked about my fears at work, daring the slightly dazed, sleepy mood to turn into something more heart-breaking.

I haven't been sick since I returned from Colorado and I sure didn't expect a fall training to end with feeling under the weather.

Luckily, the cups of tea and good vibes seemed to have worked to, at the very least, ease my mind and after getting out of the dentist, I laced up anyways and did The Usual Four.

I hadn't remembered how dark the adjoining subdivision gets in the early November nights and I took care to shorten my stride as I felt my way along the pavement. light and funk music spilled from someone's garage; the smell of burning wood wound between the houses.

The stars were just beginning to come out as I finished in the hush.

At 7:32 am on Saturday, I'll be bouncing from foot to foot amidst a different kind of hush.

I wish I may, I wish I might.