This morning the cranes came down with the rain. I�m afraid my husband thinks I�m a little crazy about the cranes. Maybe I am, but they amaze me. I�ve never seen them fly as low as they did after the hail cleared. I was sitting in my bedroom thinking about what to put on as Mr. Spy was playing a game of Stratego with AJ in the kitchen. I heard the sound through the closed doors. I opened the door to the bedroom balcony and saw them swooping over the house. I ran downstairs and out the front door and stood, barefoot in my pajamas, in the pouring rain watching those miraculous birds skim the roof of the house. I could see all the delicate markings on their breasts and their feet streaming out behind. They stretch their necks out like graceful rubber chickens, not like the herons that curl in tight in flight. They don�t look like their origami versions at all. They are all unfolded.

After the rain and the cranes left, the skies cleared and it was beautifully spring-like, reaching the mid-60s by the time I went for a run this afternoon on my way to pick up AJ from school.

I planned thirty minutes to walk and run a route that ended at AJ�s school in time to pick him up. I set out running. Then I walked up a steep hill. Then I ran some more until I got a stich in my side and then I walked for a little while. I continued in this fashion until I arrived at the school. I looked at my watch. Ten minutes had gone by since I left the house. Ten minutes? Ten??? It seemed like an eternity. So I was forced to continue running and walking. It was excruciating, but I eked out another ten minutes until I gave up and sat down on the steps of AJ�s school to enjoy the afternoon sun. I learned two things form this experience: I run faster than I think I do and I have absolutely no sense of time or distance. I think I�ll be paying more attention to time in the future.

This was my second run of the season � the first was yesterday. It�s time to get in shape for my summer of teaching water aerobics. I love yoga and it�s great for many things, but it�s not aerobic and it�s not outdoors. I hate running, but it�s outside and it works better and faster than anything I know to whip myself back into shape. Although it remains to be seen how long I�ll keep it up, I was quite proud of myself for getting out there two days in a row and I celebrated my efforts with a giant glass of French wine at dinner. Yum. And I did, by the way, send the email � not the hypothetical one in the last entry, but an email. I�m dying of curiosity. But what else is new.

[Another Michelle Shocked title for you, RS]

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