Apres le deluge

C’est Moi.

Yeah, baby. The skies opened up today. Good soaking for Southern New England; maybe now they’ll stop whining about forest fire danger. This morning was gawdawful humid and warm, this afternoon was wet, wet, wet, and this evening – magic.

Worked late ’cause I got to work late. The boy had a dentist appointment (fillings in teeth that will be gone in two years, but hopefully the decay bacteria are gone now before the new ones show up), so the baby and I stayed home this morning and slept in. Nothing better than a well rested and happy toddler. Lots and lots of open mouthed laughing. Even more slobber since he’s cutting teeth (which will likely require fillings in a couple years – note to self: be more aggressive about teaching this one to brush his teeth).

Supper with the Big Giant Head and Christian at KFC. Word of warning: Stay away from the sweet ‘n’ spicy wings. They taste like they’ve been drenched in grape jelly. Decently spicy, but ultimately disappointing. Good to hang with the guys again. I suppose I’d be better off if I didn’t eat crap, but a) I really like it, and b) the guys really like it, too, and it’s good to hang out with them.

Oh, yeah – running. I finished up what I had to do at the office a little before seven. Coincidentally, the rain stopped about seven. Had six miles on the schedule, so my options were a) run them in Newport; b) head to the base gym and run them on the ‘mill; or c) Stop on Jamestown and run the mostly deserted north end of the island. I chose c), and think I chose wisely.

I started running about 20 minutes after sunset, with about 10 minutes of legal twilight remaining. The temperature was pretty much perfect – 70-something; the humidity was pegged high. Trees still dripping, road still wet. The run wasn’t spectacular, but it happened. Wasn’t a bad run at all, either. Could have been great, but I kept finding myself really pushing the pace, and there were twinges in my left instep. Twinges, not pain, mind you.

But the night was perfect. Nearly full moon trying to push through the clouds. Occasional flashes of stars as the clouds broke up. Random bits of fog forming and blowing past streetlights.

And on the way back to the car, glimpses of an almost glassy Narragansett Bay, with the Pell Bridge and Newport reflecting off the water. The smell of clean seaweed, and an almost imperceptible sound of surf. It’s times like this that I really wish I lived on a boat – how cool would it be to sit at a mooring, smelling the clean salt air, feel a hint of a breeze, and go to sleep with the boat barely rocking in the silence of a night washed clean.

(Except that the reality of living on the boat would be going below to a sticky, humid interior, smelling of cooking oil, diesel, and light mildew, or alternately sitting topside listening to the chug of the generator and smelling exhaust…)

I’d added the bonus mile to my Jamestown loop, but I stopped running when the Forerunner hit 6.5 miles. I could have finished, but I did 6.3 yesterday (instead of the scheduled 6), and I do not want to really re-aggravate my arch.