May 22
I am one of the stealthiest people I know. At least today I felt like I was. I spent this morning in my postcard. Normally I’d be running. (Sans SixFour, who I still refuse to run with. It’s a pride thing.) Today I sat on a bench and worked. I promised myself I’d head into the office today, but I brought my work with me to a park bench instead. I’ll stick it out at the office a little while later, but weather like this shouldn’t be wasted.
Back to being stealthy. While walking around my postcard (4 inch heels should make up for the lack of a run, I think) I snagged my nylons. First of all, I have no idea WHY I was wearing nylons on such a nice day. I should have thought about that. Second, OF course I snagged my nylons. It’s bound to happen every once in awhile. So what did I do? I sat down on a bench and verrrry carefully shimmied right out of them. No one noticed, don’t worry. I was that good. Next thing you know, I’m going to get a call from the cast of Chuck. Just call me the next Sarah Walker. Boo ya.
Tagged with: loose park • nylons • postcard • sixfour • sunshine
Apr 18
Except for calla lilies. But calla lilies don’t grow out in Missouri unless they’re in a pot indoors. The last time I tried to grow them, they died. In less than a week. And that was in Las Vegas, where they’re actually SUPPOSED to grow. May the calla lilies I killed rest in peace. (Okay, confession over.) Now I just enjoy calla lilies when other people grow them. I feel a lot less guilty that way.
There IS a cool story behind my love of calla lilies. (It doesn’t involve dead ones, don’t worry!) When I was around 14, my church group had an activity for moms and daughters. The moms were asked to identify a flower that reminded them of their daughters and talk a little bit about it. My mom went above and beyond. (If you know my mom, that is no surprise.) My mom chose a calla lily for me – and she brought a beautiful silk calla lily with her, along with a whole letter about why calla lilies reminded her of me. (No, you can’t read it. Mostly because I can’t find it right now. I think it’s in an old journal somewhere.)
Anyway, back to lilacs. Of all the flowers that grow in Missouri, lilacs are my favorite. They come in the most beautiful colors, can grow as bushes or trees (and are equally gorgeous either way!), smell absolutely divine… AND I just discovered a whole bunch of them blooming in my postcard. (Notice the transition… I’m totally claiming Loose Park as “mine” now.) What a great life.
Tagged with: calla lilies • kansas city • lilacs • loose park • mom • spring • vegas
Apr 17
I’ve got a friend who I’m going to call “SixFour.” He’s not family, so we’ll stick him with a nickname. “SixFour” seems fitting given his incredible height of – you guessed it – 6’4”. Insert sigh of jealousy here. Not that *I* want to be 6’4” – can you imagine? – but sometimes it’d come in handy. Like when I need something off the top shelf at the grocery store. I always have to ask the SixFours of the world to help when I really want that last hard-to-reach salad dressing. (Salad dressing sounds much more virtuous than the last bag of cheetos, right?)
Anyway, we’ve been working on a political campaign for Kansas’s 20th District Republican Primary. Since I had plans to run after our morning of walking the district (we knock on doors and encourage people to vote in the August primary) SixFour offered to be my running partner when we were done. After a quick change into some gym clothes (we don’t knock on doors wearing them of course!) we met up at the postcard (also known as Loose Park) where we proceeded to run “together.”
Have you ever read the definition of “together”? Here it is – “into or in one gathering, company, mass, place, or body” or “into or in union, proximity, contact, or collision, as two or more things.” That said, there was NOTHING “together” about our run today. SixFour blew through four laps in the time it took me to do three. In other words, I got my apple kicked.
Of course, when you think about it, I would have run the same pace – maybe slower! – without him running circles around me. (And no, that was not literal. I would have told him to go away if he was really running circles around me as I went around the loop.) So I’m happy I went. There’s something about running that helps clear my head and I’m sure I’ll head back to the postcard soon… However, if I’m looking for an ego boost, there’s no way I’m running “together” with SixFour.
Tagged with: cheetos • loose park • postcard • running • sixfour
Mar 29
Today I went running in a postcard. Well, not really – but doesn’t it look like it should be one? When you’re in Loose Park, it feels like you’re miles away from the city. You’d never guess that it’s just a few minutes from my office. It was beautiful outside today (a WELCOME change from all this cold!) and since I’m thinking about a half-marathon in September, I thought it was a perfect time to get away from the treadmill and onto the pavement. Because really, who LOVES the treadmill? Certainly not yours truly. When I’ve got to exercise inside, I’m more a fan of the stairmaster – we’ve carried on a love affair for quite awhile. The treadmill and I have more of a hot-and-cold relationship. Mostly cold.
Running today made me want to create my OWN postcard property. Not this week of course. But I think one of these days (when I get that space of mine that I’m still pining for), I’m going to put together a really great running trail so that I can have a postcard in my own backyard. Or in my front yard. Or all around my whole house. A few lilac trees, lots of roses, a grapevine or two… It could be Totally. Freaking. Awesome. Oh yeah, I can see it all now. (And no Mom, I did not forget a water feature – it’s totally got to have a water feature.)
Until I’ve got my own postcard, I’ll stick to running in one of Kansas City’s. After all, it’s looking like the perfect place to steal ideas from.
Tagged with: half-marathon • kansas city • loose park • marathon • running • stairmaster • treadmill
I am one of the stealthiest people I know. At least today I felt like I was. I spent this morning in my postcard. Normally I’d be running. (Sans SixFour, who I still refuse to run with. It’s a pride thing.) Today I sat on a bench and worked. I promised myself I’d head into the office today, but I brought my work with me to a park bench instead. I’ll stick it out at the office a little while later, but weather like this shouldn’t be wasted.
