Bright silent lightening
Illuminates the darkness
With flickers of white.
Wednesday, July 27, 2016
The other day I talked about how a young woman named Kiara was frazzled by a very loud barking dog. Today was my turn for an even more unexpected animal encounter but, I believe, because I was running I had a much different and perhaps even goofier reaction.
I’ve seen snakes on the road here before. They were small and dead after being hit by cars, but until today I hadn’t seen one while trail running in Panama. This one was large, about 3 ft. in length, thick and very much alive and kicking. Well, not kicking; more like stretched out in the middle of the farm road. I’m going to call it an ebony kneelback, because it looks like the picture of one.
If I had been walking I probably would’ve reacted like Kiara did to the dog; shimmy and shake and scream my bloody head off. But because I was running I pretty much calmly ran by the tail end of the snake.
And I don’t believe it’s because running makes you brave. I feel it focuses the mind in a way that other priorities become more important. Like I’m having a real good run, the snake’s not coiled, why miss the opportunity to set a course P.R.? And my new running partner, Mario, might catch up if I’ve got to wait too long for this snake to shuffle off.
I definitely wouldn’t claim that the chemical changes that occur while running make me a wiser decision maker.
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