Tales from the Road

On one of my running routes, I often encounter "the wind tunnel".  Pushing 35 pounds of preschooler, uphill, into an impressive Texas wind, the jogging stroller and I moan as we climb.  Actually, the stroller doesn't moan, but it makes me feel better imagining I'm not in it alone.  Nearing the top of the wind tunnel this morning, Molly implored me, "Sing with me, mommy!"  Oh sure.  I'm really happy just to be respiring at the moment.  So, I ignore her.  Actually, I answer her, but not audibly.  That seems impossible at the time. 

After we round the corner, I continue to trot and catch my breath.  We slow to a stop, and she dismounts from her seat.  Wearing a teal tutu, she kicks my butt on the track.  As usual, she flys down lane 5, and I jog behind.  When we reach the other end, she insists on climbing the retaining wall- her favorite part of our stops to the track.  Actually her favorite part is when she gets to jump down with my hands holding her waist.  I limit her to three climbs and jumps, and she complies.  Thankfully, she forgets that if we shout we can hear our echos off of the nearby school.  I don't have the energy for yelling on command.  She tears off down the track and slows near the stroller.  Surely she's not ready to go home.  That's true because she just needed to grab a goldfish cracker and toss it into her mouth.  What???  I guess she's learning early from mommy that we run so we can eat what we want!