greetings from the beanery, where the coffee is free & the wireless is hot

at the next table are a mom & her friend & her two kids. the mom & son are having a power struggle over whether he will eat his sandwich or drink his freezie. he is opting for freezie, and she's demanding sandwich. it goes on & on, an endless loop. she is calling him "hunter". the name on the back of his baseball jersey is "conner". this means his name is "hunter conner". geyserwheat! i'd rebel, too. ooo - wait... there's more... mommy is telling her friend how she is having such a tough time getting everything done in one day -- she can't seem to find time to make it to the spa. right.

someone i know is turning 16, and i was told there was going to be a party, so i didn't send a card, but there's not a party, so it looks like i didn't care and/or forgot the birthday. i am fairly certain there was going to be a party, but then they got wind of the fact that i was going to bring my card to said party, so they cancelled the party to make me look bad. that's what i think.

i had a good run today. this would not usually be fodder for discussion, but seeing as how most runs lately have been lessons in stamina & endurance, today's run simply being enjoyable... was a relief. in honor of today's good run, i shall include for you here the boy running story. this says "today", and it didn't happen "today", but i am including it "today". get it?

tonight on the way home, i passed through what some developer had optimistically labeled "apartment homes". these blocky, three story buildings were surrounded by small bits of grass, and large sections of asphalt. across one of the patches of grass, someone was moving - moving swiftly, on foot. "now, there's a nice stride," i thought, "but an odd place to go for a run." his stride was powerful, yet graceful - relaxed. as i drove by, closer, i realized he was younger than i had originally thought - only about 9 years old. and, he had something in his hand - one of those cardboard tubes that comes from the middle of a roll of giftwrap. just then, he turned towards me, a big grin on his face, and yelled over his shoulder at a group standing on the pavement. ah... i understood: this was not an athlete out for a run - this was just a kid, running. no heart monitor, no gps watch, no fluid belt, no special equipment at all - well, that is, unless you count that cardboard tube. his only concern with pace was staying ahead of whoever was "it". his only concern with time was that it would be dark soon, and he'd have to go inside.