I know I planned to blog more over vacation, but I don’t feel the least bit sad to say that I was too busy enjoying the time, and refused to feel guilty about not accomplishing more blogging. Aren’t blog post supposed to be a freely chosen activity anyway? If it becomes another job then forget it, I have enough of those already (at least that is how I rationalized it).
A great visit this past weekend with Steve followed an absolutely wonderful time at the Hillsboro Balloon Festival. Both of these things are tied together under the above title. First the festival, then the visit.
Savannah had been training for a 5K in the Fall and I could tell she was quickly losing interest in the idea of 3 months of running for one event in October. Few kids just have that kind of attention span. So I started looking for a race a in July just to spice things up. I found a 5K associated with the Hillsboro balloon festival this past Friday night, so we headed down. It turne out to be an absolutely perfect night.
I didn’t realize they would have a fair going on as well as lawn tractor pulls (people would Tim the Toolman Taylor trick out their lawn tractors and have pulling competitions – it was far cooler then I thought it would be), hot air balloons, and the race. We registered for the race, and then spent an hour cruising the fair. During this hour the clouds we had on the way down cleared out and a quintessential New England Summer Night was in full swing – one of those days you are just content to be right there right then.
The kids hit a few rides then Savannah and I headed over to the start of the race. It was so cool to do a little pre-race warm up run and talk with her about pacing and the fact that at mile two she would be tired, mile 2.5 she would be dead tired, and mile 3 she would be completely empty, but that we would finish together no matter what. It occured to me that a really unique part of running is the ability to share it with those around you. I mean I can coach one of my kids teams, or be there on the sidelines for their games. However, what other sport (I can’t think of any other off the top of my head) allows you to line up with your kid and participate in it with them? To more then vicariously share the experience… I’m not saying that I would want to head out with Savannah if she joined a cross country running team at her meet. That might be a tad bit of the overbearing, involved a little to much, parent mentality that I want no part of! I don’t know, this part of running is kind of neat and unique I think.
We made it all 3.1 miles without stopping (except water stops, but those don’t count anyway) and finished in 32 minutes. Damn good for a 10-year-old. Along the way we saw hot air balloon’s launch, horses, cows, geese, a waterfall, and the sun dance off the few remaining clouds in the sky. This is something I miss during hard races where I am pounding the pavement with a little to much competition in my veins. In fact, when I saw the leader on their way back and measured his pace I knew I would have won this race (and in fact would have if I came anywhere near my normal 5k pace). Yet, there was no place else I would have rather been. I had a great conversation with Savannah on the way out, she was pretty winded on the way back. Man, how can you top that whole experience? One memory I have, and I’m sure Savannah does as well, is the final 200m too the finish when she went tearing down the road and some lady yelled “YOU GO GIRL!” As soon as she crossed the finish line she turned and said “Did you hear them yelling for me?” I know it made an impact on her, and I guess it made one on me as well because that is what I was saying to myself as I saw her take off.
Once we were done, and Savannah donned her newly earned T-shirt, it was off the the Fair. I can’t say enough about how much Christina and Joe supported Savannah by waiting for the half-hour it took us just to yell encouragement over the last couple hundred meters. Joe earned his night at the fair. We went on a bunch of rides, ate some ridiculously bad food, and snapped about a hundred pictures (I promise I’ll post some soon). By the time we left our entire family just felt blessed to have stumbled on this night that had us all feeling like it was the perfect day.
Of course, I knew it was only continuing on as I was picking up my best friend whom, I love like a brother, and hanging out for the next 15 or so hours. We met Steve at the airport and it took approximately two milliseconds to start talking like we had just seen each other yesterday (that to me is the ultimate sign of friendship). On the way home we shared some pizza, and good conversation. Once home we played a two games of cribbage where I absolutely smoked his ass. It wasn’t really even a competition. I tried to take it easy on him, but sometimes there is no helping someone that un-talented at a game.
As the night wore on the conversation moved to a discussion about “The Best Things in Life.” In short, Steve had wondered allowed to his sister if the best things in life were really family barbecues, good conversation, and kids running around. What a drastically different picture then what we had imagined in our youth. Given that it was three-thirty in the morning, I stammered out the best response I could, but have had much more time to think about it since then.
The Best Things in Life, and I’m going to steal something from the movie “Into the Wild,” are those moments when we can share true joy and happiness with those we care about. After much time thinking about it I cannot think of a single moment that has qualified as “Best in Life” that does not involve someone around me. Given how terribly isolating I can become, this is not alway easy to overcome. However, it is an absolute truth and fundamental to being human. I don’t know what your definition of a “Best Thing in Life” is (running a 5k at a fair?) but I’ll bet it involves the people you care about in some capacity.
Yep, Friday July 11th into Saturday July 12th was a day that will be remembered for “The Best Things in Life.”
Now coming back to work on Monday…
