Run for Your Life

I don’t listen to music as I run. I prefer to take in my surroundings to their fullest while I’m out on the trail. But this afternoon I could hear in my head “Don’t Fear the Reaper” as I passed harvested fields illuminated by a golden November sun. The song seems more poignant given the circumstances of the day and all the time and energy and heartache spent on them. While the outcome of this election will have direct consequences on all I saw before me, the leaves, the trees, the various forest critters—they were oblivious. Life persists and endures. I found that to be a heartening thought, and one that filled me with hope and joy. And it was good to feel that keenly, if only as a brief reprieve.