After signing the stupid tax forms, I was feeling grumpy. Actually, I was feeling grumpy before this, both in non-specific ways as well as in ways that could be attributed to specific things: unexpected news of an old friend's death, missing out on a $6,000 order, etc. So anyway, I decided that some exercise might burn the fatigue-induced adrenaline by-products polluting my body and soul.
I went on my "dream route", so named because it passes through a neighborhood I'm pretty sure I've dreamed about before ever visiting. As I ran, the fatigue from the last run a couple days ago made its presence felt pretty quickly. My run became more of a run-jog, then a jog, then a walk, then a sort of run-walk, if such a thing is possible. All the while, a black cloud drizzling rain close by would start spraying drops on me as the wind changed direction. I discovered that if I ran for 100-200 yards and then slowed to a quick walking pace, I could just keep ahead of the leading edge of this micro-weather pattern that seemed determined to follow me.
By the time I got home, I was still dry, and thankfully in better spirits. It seemed funny that the metaphor for someone being in a mental funk, i.e., with a "black cloud" hovering over their head, was on this particular evening both a metaphor and an actuality for me. Was I giving myself a sign or something? Maybe when we get into these bad spaces, it's up to us to get up and do what we can to run out from underneath the cloud?
