Go, you chicken fat, go away!

For the last three days that I've gone running, I've felt something in my shoe.  The first day I thought it was just a little rock.  So when I got home, I shook my shoe out and the only thing that came out was a little piece of paper.  I thought it strange that a piece of paper could get positioned in such a way to bother me like that.  But the next day I felt it again.  So I thought maybe my shoes were falling apart and losing their padding and something in the soul was poking at my foot.  But I forgot to check when I took them off.  The next time, same thing, but this time I did check.  I stuck my hand in my shoe and felt around, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary.  Then I turned my shoe over and saw that a bullhead (sometimes known as a goathead) had lodged itself in my shoe so deep that I didn't see it.  I pulled it out and threw it in the trash.

Today's run was poke free.  Also it was very dark and warm.  We've been having record highs here.  It finally seemed like it was going to cool down, but now highs are back in the 90's.  Anyway, I was running along thinking to myself how dark it was and how I could barely see anything.  But then I saw a shadow advancing.  As it drew closer I could see the soft glow of a cell phone light.  I didn't want to scare the person coming towards me so I yelled out, "Good morning!" when I thought they would be in range to hear me.  I received a sweet and mouselike, "Good morning!" back.  I said, "Is that you, Edythe?"  She chuckled, "Yes it is, Burt." 

I crossed Adobe and was thinking about the funny encounter when I was brought back to my senses by the sound of a siren.  It sounded like it was on Greenfield.  Then it stopped.  I was about an eighth of a mile south of Adobe when all of the sudden the RWCD road was lit up with red and blue lights.  I turned and saw the firetruck heading east.  Hopefully not to my house.  Then I started thinking about how there was a time in my life where I would pause to say a little prayer for whomever was on the distress end of call.  But I don't do that anymore really.  So I started thinking if there was any good reason why I don't do that.  Perhaps the person in distress was just pummelled for sneaking into some father's daughter's bedroom.  In that case, maybe they got what they deserved.  So they shouldn't be prayed for?  I don't know.  I'd have to reach a higher spiritual plane to show empathy for a child predator.

It stayed dark the entire time.  I only saw one other guy on the trail walking his two dogs.  They wanted to protect their owner from this mysterious dark stranger.  Then I saw what I originally thought was a large white dog.  It was actually light from a flashlight.  Someone was in the green belt walking around with their flashlight.  They shined it on me a couple of times.  I don't know what they were up to.  Maybe just exercising.