Rambling On

I'm going to ramble a bit tonight, I think, because it's just the kind of mood I'm in.  A good mood, actually, but a rambling mood, too.

After Jude and I gave J.P. a bath and put him in bed, I went for a run.  I was thinking about driving to the gym to run on the treadmill, but I decided to run outside.  It's cold, so I put on tights, a windbreaker and a cap and gloves, and off I went.  I love running when it's cold.  Always have, really.  It's never too cold to run.  It's just a matter of having the right gear to keep warm.

I had a fantastic 5 mile run in my neighborhood on a beautiful winter night.  I warmed up quickly, so the cold wasn't an issue.  Bob Edwards kept me company, as I listened a podcast on my iPod of "Bob Edwards' Weekend."  When the podcast ended, I switched my iPod to "shuffle," and finished my run listening to a variety of music (My Morning Jacket, John Hyatt, The Four Seasons, etc.).  Although the iPod is in the top ten, for me, of the best inventions of the last 20 years, the "shuffle" feature on the iPod is in a class by itself.  It was one of those runs when I felt like I could have kept going forever.

About 3 miles into the run, I cut through the grounds of Christ the King, a catholic church and school on Belmont Boulevard, part of my normal route.  I stopped in front of a statue of the Virgin Mary and ran in place for a minute or two, as I normally do.  As I said a quick prayer, I noticed a beam of light from a streetlight behind the statue illuminating my breath in the cold, night air.  The effect was cool.

I ran through the back parking lot and down Oakland Avenue, lost in my thoughts and a little sad with the realization that the holidays, for the most part, are over for 2010.  I began to consider why I love this part of the year (and the holidays) so much.  I decided it's because the holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas) always remind me of how lucky, blessed and fortunate I am in so many different ways.

I'm so blessed to have the wife and son I have.  They're the true joys of my life.  My family (my mom, sisters and cousins) is great.  I'm lucky to have a pair of brothers-in-laws like Gary (Hearn) and Dell (Walker), good family men, both, and good husbands to Tracy and Alice.  My in-laws are the best.  Jim and Jane have been so good to me over the years - better than I deserve - and they're so good to my son.  Jude's extended family (on both sides), to a person, are fun, caring and loving people with whom I love to spend time, regretting only that our visits together are often too short.  I have law partners with whom I'm proud to work and a a job that I enjoy, most of the time.  I'm healthy and my family's healthy.  I could go on and on.

These are the kinds of things I think about when I'm running.  Running clears my head, keeps me sane and provides me with some quiet time to think, ponder and contemplate.  Running is such an important and vital part of my life and my identity.  I can't imagine what I would do without it.