Monday, January 7, 2013

Give me spots on my apples...

I'm a runner. I run outside. All the time. In every weather. I have favorite routes. I have a 2 mile route, a 3.1, a 4, a 5 and a 6.2. If I need to run longer distances I combine the routes to get what I need. Many runners don't enjoy running the same path over and over. Stephan is one of these. He invents paths and crosses streets and turns left (who turns left??) and maps the run when he gets home to see how far he went.

I have routes. I have markers along those routes: The 1/2 mile mail box. The 1 mile cement goose. The 1.5 mile tree with the word "MOM" carved into it and candles lit below it. The 2 mile tennis court. Etc. Etc. Etc.

This morning the MOM tree was gone. Someone cut it down. And the three trees in a line behind it. Also about 6 trees the next street over that shaded the long 1/2 mile stretch leading up to the tennis court. They're just stumps in the ground now. As I ran past I couldn't help thinking, "Someone cut my trees down." MY trees. MINE. If they have to have public hearings to determine whether or not my neighbor can put up a fence, why didn't anyone ask me if it was ok to cut down my trees? A petition? A sign? Some sort of warning at least?

I want to plant ten trees now to make up for the ones I lost. But they have to be in specific locations- appropriate to long summer runs. Maybe with sprinklers or misting machines triggered by the proximity of my iPod. Can someone please get to work on this?

1 comment:

Annie Crow said...

Ack! Your trees!

I just got a Garmin and am looking forward to more runs where I just explore without worrying about how far I'm going. Especially once I have to start doing some serious long ones.