Monday, May 31, 2010

I have just come home from running and I have a story to tell.





But first, a few words of wisdom gleaned on this Monday morning:

1. Never wear sunglasses to go running in the forest when the day is only half-sunny.

2. Never wear running shoes in a rocky forest when it's been raining for weeks.

3. Never be afraid of the bogeyman when you can be afraid of cows.

4. Never run alone in street shoes in a wet and rocky forest full of cows with your sunglasses on.

I had just posted the quaint picture of cows off my balcony when I left the house for a run. I asked myself... the usual route, or a new one ? (the usual route being the safer of the two.)

A rather impulsive person, I decided on the new one... and off I went to do the parcours vita - running. Well, first of all the climb to the top of the hill is steep, so halfway up I had to slow to a nordic walk lest my lungs give out. As I was ascending, I recalled my neighbor's warning, "If you go running in the forest, Allison, leave a note on the table saying where you've gone so we can find you if you get hurt."

Hmmm, not a chance.

Naturally, walking through a dark forest (sunglasses to blame) creeped me out and I began looking around to see if someone were following me. But as I crested the hill and emerged from the forest I spied the movie set for the Sound of Music and was immediately relieved!

The hills are alive! But with the sound of cow bells?

A warning sign guarded entry to the field... "Suckling cows protect their young. Please keep your distance."

My knees went weak. I could either retrace my steps through the forest and risk encountering a bogeyman, or I could brave the mother cows and risk getting gorged. A quandary for this fertile imagination. There was a time, you see, when I had helped out at a farm. It was seventeen years ago, and my job had been to bring in the cows. I was once "attacked", though it came to naught. Still... I am leery of them to this day.

I opted for the fields, trying my best to think of Do Re Mi and the children who ran fearlessly through dales such as these with guitar in hand, singing. I made it over the hill, thanking God for deliverance, and began to enter the forest again. More bells. In the forest? Seriously? This time I was downright scared. You can't see cows in the forest; they blend in! Hurrying down the hill, I forgot to look out for slippery rocks, and felt my feet slide out from under me.

Crash.

My thigh and arm hit the hard forest floor and I lay there thinking of my neighbor, thinking of the cows, thinking... "I should have taken the usual route!" Yes, I realized at the time that I was freaking myself out.

Well... obviously I managed to pull myself together (or I wouldn't be alive now writing this post) and run home.

I thought you might like to know that among my fanciful and imaginative posts is the hard reality faced by a dreamer in distress. Cheers!

4 comments:

Diane AZ said...

Glad you are okay after your fall in the forest. The cow picture is priceless!

Anonymous said...

If you had not taken this path, would you have such a story to tell?

-Father

Anonymous said...

Mais quelle histoire quelle histoire! Je pourrais signer à ta place. Vous savez, moi les vaches, je ne les aime que pour leur lait et leur bidoche!
Evi

Allison said...

Don't forget the Danfnudeln, Evi... you need milk for that! ;)