Life Past 30

I am finally beginning to shed the blues I had during the extremely cold winter we had.  After suffering from cold, stiff fingers, a numb nose, and mean winds, I volunteer to be the first person to bid winter goodbye!  I happily wore a jacket today and left the coat behind.  It felt good.  Now that Spring is here, my spirit is soaring and yearning for a change of scenery.  Lately, I have been dreaming of taking a nice vacation where the weather is warm, the water is blue, and the night breezes are mild.  Rejuvenation is what I crave and any island will do right now.

This summer will be the perfect time to take a break between training for this year’s Marine Corps Marathon and running it.  An island break is my prescription for getting rid of heavy clothes and forgetting dreary skies.  One thing I miss about being in Okinawa is being able to go to the nearest beach, have a few drinks, and watch the sun rise.  Okinawa is where I was able to truly relax and take in the scenery.  I plan on rekindling a bit of that this year!

I thought this morning would be a normal beginning to a work day.  As usual, I showered, got dressed, fixed my hair, and worked out the budget for breakfast and lunch.  I use public transportation because it is easier than driving.  Tooling around in a car in Washington, DC during morning rush hour traffic is not my idea of fun, so I choose to use the bus.  This allows me to think, read, or crochet during my trek to work.  As I was walking up the street to get to the bus stop, I saw my bus approaching the stop quickly, so I did what is normal and sprinted.  This was the first time I ran since running the Marine Corps Marathon and it felt weird, but I did it.  I made it to the bus, got on, paid my fare and sat down for what would be a 20-30 minute ride.  When I got up to debark the bus at my stop, I did not expect to feel some not-so-nice pain in my feet and ankles.  I got off the bus and had to walk slowly for the first five minutes just to help my feet feel normal again.  I am now convinced that the little sprint to the bus was the cause of the pain.  I will continue to walk like I have been and try not to sprint for anymore buses any time soon.

After a beautiful weekend, my Tuesday-that-feels-like-Monday morning got a little sidetracked.  I use public transportation to get to and from work everyday simply because I don’t want to be stressed out by driving in traffic.  The public transportation system in Washington, DC may have its problems, but it is by the far the best I have ever used.  It even trumps Los Angeles’ system. 

The problem I had this morning involved being stuck in traffic for 20 minutes on crowded bus.  I’m perfectly aware that the amount of people using public transportation has doubled, even tripled, in some places due to high gas, food, and miscellaneous prices.  Despite that fact, I could not come up with a logical explanation for all the traffic that was on the streets this morning!  The intersection that normally has a lot of rush hour traffic seemed to have five times the amount today, which made the commute longer.  It was as though every commercial truck, school bus, and personal vehicle hit the road at the same time.  I cannot recall ever seeing the traffic that bad on previous mornings.  Really, where did everyone come from?  Did they plan it?  It seemed coordinated, but there’s no proof.       

What should have been an uneventful 30 minute commute took almost an hour.  I’m hoping the commute home will be different.  How is traffic in your area?