At midnight on January 1st I was running across the St. Johns bridge.
I'm a night person anyway, so why not, I reasoned, take care of my last run of 2010 and my first run of 2011 all in one go?
Crystal clear, cold skies, air that bites just a little when it enters your lungs. Ship horns up-harbor bellowing the most melodious and melancholy horn symphony I'd ever heard, accompanying firecrackers, cowbells, shouting filling the night air.
I hit my stride after the day turned over, feeling as if my feet had wings. Midway across the bridge I broke out into a grin, feeling the perfection of the moment.
I sped home to a champagne toast with the Monkey, a fire blazing in the wood stove, and a warm black bean casserole just out of the oven.
Wishing you a new year full of hope, harmony, sweet delights, happy surprises and well-being.
4 comments:
This sounds perfect, love the picture you wrote. Happy New Year!
HAPPY NEW YEAR CLARE :)
Hope your is a joyful one, regards, T. :)
This is a great story/essay. However, wasn't it outrageously cold on the bridge at midnight? I was there Sunday afternoon and it was utterly inhospitable. Along the southwest ramp to the bridge there is a waterfall with ice all around it. Some guy in a pick up truck pulled over by it, got out and broke off a few big icicles and threw them in the back of his truck. I could hear them shatter when they landed. I don't know what the point of that behaviour was. I mean, if you wanted to show off the icicles when you got home, then you would want to handle them with care.
Also, love that photo...took me awhile to figure out that was Mt. Hood under the clouds. At first I thought it was an atmospheric element of snow being whipped around in the sunlight.
happy new year to you!
Steve, yes it was a bit nippy that night, but not as bad as you might think. Once I was a block or so into it I felt pretty warm.
Sunday on the other hand...I rode my bike across the bridge to Forest Park and regretted not wearing 13 more layers of insulation. The ice patches on the road weren't fun to ride through down the bridge road, either.
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