Chilly Morning Memories

The weather today is icky. Cold and rainy that will chill you to the bone. I was planning a nice 5 mile run with my running buddy. Her toe is better and she can run now. I was excited to be going out and running by the river. We haven't been able to do this for weeks. When I checked the weather yesterday afternoon and the prediction was rain and snow I decided I'd have to run on the treadmill. I loath treadmill running. It is boring. The view is always of the same tree across the parking lot. On a rainy day the cloud formation is always the same, dark and heavy with varying degrees of dripping pouring forth. Today offered no different view.

While trying to distract myself from my constant speed and changeless view I let my mind wander. I thought about my trip to Nags Head this weekend. Of course the trip is on my mind because we are going for a race. Today I thought about all the trips to Hatteras Island with my parents when I was young. Every spring and fall we would go stay at the beach so my dad could go drum fishing. I have so many happy memories of those trips. There are a few not so happy ones, like the time I came down with chicken pox for example. Today though I was thinking about the drive from Central New York to the Outer Banks. I was thinking about how long the drive was and how my parents worked so hard to keep us happy while riding for 13 hours.

There was one trip that my brother (I only had one then) and I were curious about how long a mile was. Of course I was on the treadmill and watching the miles slowly add up. We must have asked Dad to tell us when we had been a mile over and over. It was magic how he knew when we had been a mile. We must have been guessing about how far it was and how he could tell. I think he even told us to count the phone poles and that would tell us when we had been a mile. Eventually he did reveal that he had a special thing on the dash, a speedometer, that kept track of how fast he was going and how far we had gone. I have to say that special speedometer is so much more accurate than phone pole counting. I was looking at how many poles I could see out the window while on the treadmill. There are at least 6 in view and that is not a half mile view.

For food today I purchased a turkey breast portion. Our local grocery sells fresh turkey and I often pick up a breast or a couple of thigh portions to cook in the afternoon. Today I'm cooking half a breast. I purchased a grinder with garlic and rosemary in it last weekend. Those spice combination grinders are a super fast way to get fresh tasting herbs and spices. All I did was rinse the meat, grind a healthy helping of the garlic and rosemary combination onto it, and pop it in the oven at 375 to cook for about an hour. Once it is done I'm all set, I will have fresh turkey breast to slice for afternoon snacking with my fresh broccoli!