Wrangler Dani

So I run almost every day. I say “run” because it sounds so much better than jogging and panting. I usually run the same route, because I’m a creature of habit and I like it, so why change a good thing. Here are some random things I notice along the way:

• There are two cute little houses on Tustin Ave., that when I first started running here about 10 months ago were nothing more than foundations. Now they are live-in-able. That’s incredible to me, having spent the better part of a decade building my parent’s house in Oregon. Guess things move faster when you have more than a part-time contractor (my dad) and a couple of teenagers (my brother and I) working on a building.
• Open garages are funny to me. I like to peek in and see what people like to do with their spare time. Some people, apparently, just like to clean things. There’s one garage in particular whose shop-vac I am constantly tempted to run away with. It’s very big and industrial and it even has rollers for the easier rolling up the street and using to clean my car. I’d return it, I promise.
• Another open garage that intrigues me is the Woodworker’s. This old fella is constantly sawing, hammering, sanding and talking to his cats. It smells like sawdust and sweat and childhood memories. He always waves at me, and it’s one of my favorite houses along the way.
• I don’t understand people with large yards and no flowers. Why would you waste a yard with concrete or crab grass or anything but flowers?
• I also don’t understand people who keep their blinds closed all the time. How can you stand to be in the dark on beautiful days? And don’t you know that looking in is how we get entertainment when we run by?
• Eventually I get out of the neighborhoods and into the Back Bay Wildlife Preserve. This is where I spent much of my childhood, imagining that I was exploring unknown wildernesses, rollerblading, bike-riding and rambling to my heart’s content. I still get deja vu sometimes.
• There are a few wealthy people on the hill above the bay who own horses and ride them down the trail. Smelling the distinct horsey smell and hearing the clop of their hooves raises a longing in me I can’t describe. Sometimes it makes me homesick and lonesome, sometimes it fills me with euphoria. I always watch as they go by and I’m sure they think I’m just another “slicker” staring out of idle curiosity.
• Men are friendlier joggers than women. They almost always nod, women almost always glare.
• Whenever I see someone running with their dog, it makes me want one. Until I see them stop to clean up said fuzzy pet’s business. Then I’m glad I don’t have one.
• I think being pushed in a stroller must be the most relaxing thing ever. I have yet to see an even halfway alert baby on the trail. I really wish I could go back and try it, because every little chubby face I see looks supremely content.
• I love my iPod shuffle. Best $75 I ever spent.
• When I finally head back towards home, I run by a house wherein resides a misbehaving little boy named “Danny”. His mom is always yelling at him, and I feel like I’m in trouble. Every time.