On the run...

One of the many typical sights in the US of A for me has been seeing people out on a run at nearly all times of the day and even night. Some of them are plugged in to some music while others have a water bottle attached to their belt. Some run with their sunglasses on while some run wrapped in layers and layers of clothing irrespective of the weather. Another strange thing I have noticed is that people run in almost all weather conditions. Be it a sweltering hot day or a really chilly evening, run they will. And no its not just the fitness crazy new generation but even elder folk, men and women alike who are out on the run. So its age no bar, time no bar and weather no bar activity.

Of course hubby and me too are part of this "run of the mill" crowd now. For someone who hasn't really run much since high school,  if you discount the sprints to catch the bus that I saw fleeting past my stop it was very difficult to start with. In fact I could hardly run for a few hundred meters before my breath caught up with me. However with time and an unrelenting hubby behind me, my stamina seems to have increased and I can now jog for up to a mile before I feel I need to take a breather. Though running on the treadmill gives you the workout, nothing can beat the feeling of fresh air flooding your lungs as you stretch your legs. 

On weekends, we generally head to the nearby community park and jog around the play field there. The community parks here are a world of their own, more on them some other time for I don't want to digress now. While wintry months made us cherish the few minutes of warm sun as we ran, the onset of spring made us yearn for some shade. And so this weekend, we literally hit the roads or rather the footpaths along a road that boasts of scenic beauty. The last time we went that way, I could hardly run much and ended up walking for most part lagging behind my runner hubby. There is a railway track that runs in the valley where our running route is located. Hubby had seen a jackal near the bushes by the track on that occasion. This time I in my new improved avatar managed to run/jog up to the halfway mark of our running route albeit lagging behind slightly. With the spring having arrived now, our scenic route was simply splendid. It was a delight to run along a path where the air was rich with the scent of fresh pine interspersed with delicate fragrances of colorful springtime blossoms. There were even rows and rows of jasmine shrubs, slightly different from the kinds we find back in India but the fragrance was unmistakeable.

While I was busily indulging my senses with the lovely sights and smells, I saw that my hubby who was quite ahead of me had halted his run. Thinking that he was waiting for me to catch up, I quickened my run and joined him only to find him halting me and shushing me. Puzzled as I was, I could only stare in disbelief when he pointed to a slithery creature that lay ahead across our path. It was a snake with sandy-brown and greenish body, nearly 3 feet long, that had decided to stop by and say hello to us. It paused a while before coming out of the bushes completely onto the footpath. And then it raised its head oh so slightly trying to sense the air around it, raised its tail which I now noticed was like a carved toy and as if answering my doubt, the tail began shaking and gave out a rattling sound. We had bumped into a rattle-snake that had decided to take a midday stroll. Once it crossed over and slithered away into the bushes we cautiously resumed our run. The return from the halfway mark saw me running/walking my way back. I guess I still have a long way to go before I can say that I run. I am working on it. Unfortunately not carrying my phone meant I couldn't take any pictures of our surprise encounter. Nevertheless the run on the canyon road on that special sunday will remain etched forever in my memory.