nov 1/RUN

7 miles
washington bridge turn around
35 degrees

A great run! Longest one I’ve done in over a year. Overcast, grayish brown. Felt warmer than 35 degrees. Greeted the Daily Walker. Smelled breakfast at longfellow grill up on lake street. Admired the river through the bare threes. Looked down at the gorge, over to St. Paul.

An Epiphany

As I looked over at the other side of the gorge–the east side and sometimes St. Paul, sometimes Minneapolis side–I suddenly understood something about why I like to see beyond the thickly thatched trees lining the bluff. The view is not just about seeing the forest floor and the river, it’s about seeing the other side. And seeing the other side is about possibilities, other perspectives, other/new ways of being, hope beyond this rutted reality, more than only this/here/now, the future, not really death but maybe a little about death, that which is not-me/not-I, outside of my self, beyond, beside, to where my mom was born and lived until she left for college [West St. Paul].

Loved running in the flats. Almost wanted to take the old stone steps up to riverside park but didn’t. Never have. I should some day. Listened to the water seeping and falling and gurgling. Thought about the mudslide a few years ago. Watched the water flowing fast, foaming, getting ready for ice. Decided that I’ll probably go faster if I incorporate a walk break into my 10K race. So glad I stopped at a porta-potty. So happy to have run for over an hour. I love November running. Pre-snow, post-leaf show. Heard some clanging and loud buzzing, almost like an alarm, but not quite. Saw a big boat on the river.

Eagle Poem
Joy Harjo – 1951-

To pray you open your whole self
To sky, to earth, to sun, to moon
To one whole voice that is you.
And know there is more
That you can’t see, can’t hear,
Can’t know except in moments
Steadily growing, and in languages
That aren’t always sound but other
Circles of motion.
Like eagle that Sunday morning
Over Salt River. Circled in blue sky
In wind, swept our hearts clean
With sacred wings.
We see you, see ourselves and know
That we must take the utmost care
And kindness in all things.
Breathe in, knowing we are made of
All this, and breathe, knowing
We are truly blessed because we
Were born, and die soon within a
True circle of motion,
Like eagle rounding out the morning
Inside us.
We pray that it will be done
In beauty.
In beauty.

How wonderful it is that Joy Harjo is the United States Poet Laureate right now! Her words are a beautiful gift.