Gone with the wind

It is so windy today I was nearly blown into a bush by the wind while on my run. But the wind led to some interesting stories while I was outside.

I imagine that most people in training for a half-marathon, or a full marathon, or any sort of endurance sport, train in the wind. Because it pushes against everything you are running towards, pushing against your body and tries to get you to give up and turn around, and walk home. It gusts quickly, so you don't expect it when it throws sticks, dirt and remnants of newspaper in your path.

It is a bit like life, the wind. It throws things at you you weren't expecting. But you deal with it.

So today, I dealt with it. I ran against the wind (which at my estimate, and the Weather Network's estimate, was going at about 40 km/hour) and I did not give up. I laughed out loud to myself. Grunted, sighed. But I still ran 6.5 km.

And also, while on my run, I noticed two funny things. First, there were hundreds of snow geese trying to fly in the wind, and they were basically floating up and down against it. I watched them fly over me, and suddenly they did a 180 degree turn and flew so fast with the wind, like they were children on a roller coaster soaring through the air. It was the neatest thing. They were playing.

And second, I saw a mother and her daughter delivering papers when suddenly a gust of wind ripped through their cart and sent tens of sheets of newsprint into the air, all separating and swooping and swirling on the ground and winding up against fences. I laughed. And then I helped the lady gather as many pieces of the destroyed newspaper as I could.

It was a good little windy day.