Curly McClain says, “There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow.”

Curly McClain says, “There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow.”

QIC: Burlap

Date: 02 Oct 2020

PAX: Mongoose, Palin, The Vig, Beverly, SVP, JuiceBox, Resistor, 'BoutTime, Cheerio, Glazer, Valdez, Miranda, Dutch Dog, Thor, Swifty (WB), Closer, Double Wide, Plunger, Interference, RedEye, Dr Hump, Chomper, Winklevoss, Balco, The Singing Cowboy, BAM, and Burlap (WB and QIC)

27 men found their fountain of youth in early morning moonlit skies with soft wisps of clouds, cool temps in the mid-50s, and relatively short and flat routes.  The Q got compliments on both the routes and the weather, but had a hand in only one category; but, of course, YHC took credit for both.

We generally stayed off the main roads, stayed on familiar, long stretches of relatively flat streets, and enjoyed early October weather.  YHC believes he heard SVP singing loudly “Oh, What a Beautiful Morning!” from the Rodgers and Hammerstein classic, Oklahoma!.  I shared the sentiment.

But what made the morning beautiful for me was running in a small group of men with whom I share differences but more similarities, enjoying their company, checking on their families and in turn being asked about mine, getting passed by younger, faster men who are fleet of foot over many miles and who encourage me even as I poke along, passing a man walking on Warwick who is obviously talking on the phone, knowing his walking gait even from many yards behind in the dark as that of Interference who was presumably discharging some medical duties, passing by the well-lit kitchen of a friend on Westview knowing that he would at 0530 be up and reading the paper (he was), meeting head-on a non-F3 guy on Forest who called Cheerio and YHC by our hospital names in a friendly encounter, enjoying the quiet winding portion of Spring Garden that almost no one drives down and is perfect for running, pacing ourselves by BooBoo’s new house and seeing it lit up even though he was supposed to Q today but was on the IR for brief stint, pushing ourselves up the last little hill on Glade up to Sunset and stretching our strides briskly back to the parking lot.  Then hearing the animated post-run conversations in the dark parking lot — some serious, some playful — hearing the Pax quiet down respectfully for announcements and serious prayer requests, hearing them joking with me as I start to lead us in prayer — some hurting, some rejoicing, some tired, all grateful and respectful of one another and the other man’s faith and beliefs.

These are things that made it a beautiful morning for me.

COT

• Prayers for teachers, students, parents, and administrators as we work on getting back to school in person.
• Prayers for Goofy and his family in the loss of his parents-in-law.
• Prayers for my daughter, Elizabeth, in her upcoming surgery to replace her pacemaker generator and possibly some wiring.
• Prayers for our leaders at all levels whether you agree with them or not, and for understanding and honor among citizens.
• YHC took us out.

Thank you for the honor of “leading” this morning.

Peace,

Burlap