An Evening on West Ridge

The weather feels like winter– crisp and cold.  It’s lovely.  LOVELY.  This evening I took off for a run into Wood Canyon and up Cholla to West Ridge (an evening run because today was the church Christmas pageant, and afterward I took a two hour nap – TWO HOURS).  

I ran through Canyon View park with the sun quickly sinking.  The playground was active with children at this late hour.  I stopped momentarily, sitting on the cement ground to tie my shoe before descending further into Wood Canyon.  A boy about ten or eleven years old slowed as he passed me, and he called to his father to wait.  And then he said to me, “I thought you . . . I thought you . . . “  He seemed nervous and astonished at seeing me, though we have never met before. I told him that I probably looked like someone he knew.  But he just shook his head in bewilderment.  “I thought you . . . ,” he uttered again and continued with something too quiet for me to comprehend.  “Who do you think she looks like?” the boy’s father asked.  Finally, he said clearly and with resolve, “I like your hat.”  I thanked the little guy, and ran further on into the canyon wondering if perhaps I looked like someone the boy knew who had died. 

I ran the ridge all the way to Top of the World, where I turned around and headed back for a 6.63 mile round trip run.  It got dark on me however.  And being that I could not tell depth very well in the dark, I gingerly ran down Cholla back into Wood Canyon.  The experience was peaceful, and also delightful with the Christmas lights surrounding me from the neighboring homes. 

So happy to get this run in.  So, so happy.