I think, as humans, our own nature is creative and fun. Those of us who like to imagine and write stories often find a sense of surreal or dreamy ambiences where others may not even take a second look. Where this may then branch off to unscientific ideologies is another thing altogether, but I like to imagine myths, stories, and legends when I run. And lately, the weather and light has abetted this way of envisioning the world–not to mention the absolute need to continue to escape the mundane and cruel politics and people who are full of ego and impossibly difficult personalities. As you can tell, if you read this blog, I run to imagine and to get away as well as of course to try to stay as fit as I can.
Having been drenched in thoughts of our upcoming journey to Ireland and all the magical faerie world of Yeats, and having just experienced a strange rainy and misty week, breaking into our otherwise heated sunshine, I notice how green and mystical the world seems on the trail. I imagine that the trail during the workday is not just a small area surrounded by homes and the campus but a path in a great wood where little creatures are hiding in abundance. I was reading “The Stolen Child” again last week and wondered why Yeats was so enamored with faeries. I thought of somehow including a metaphor of faeries in the new weird fiction novel I’m writing.
The week, starting with last week’s camping trip, has turned into a gray-lighted adventure where I can picture hobbits in the next field over and tiny people in the forests I ramble through. On Friday we had a party and that night and all day yesterday came the most torrential rainfall. I had to go out and hide some cauliflowers under the picnic table because the pots became full of mushy soil and about an inch of rain. Better than this time last year, I suppose, when we were already starting a heat wave and drought that would last all summer. The sun and warmer weather returns tomorrow–and it’s a very busy week and a half before our moms arrive (my mother is traveling with us to Ireland, and my husband’s mom is visiting Vancouver and staying at our place to babysit our kitties). I am not sure if I will even write another running blog post again for a while, but sometimes time finds me, and I am surprised.
