solo

It is still somewhat disorienting to realize that I can get on an airplane at 5:00 p.m. in Michigan and arrive 1,400 miles away in 3.5 hours. The speed of travel liberates us to do crazy (but necessary) things like take a 24-hour business trip to Utah.

There are, however, things that are not to be rushed. Experiences to savor, new paths to explore. Instead of running on the treadmill at the hotel fitness center, I lace up my running shoes, take the elevator down seven floors, and walk out into a warm morning just after the 6:06 a.m. sunrise.

With the State Capitol as the landmark that beckons me, I begin to run. Past the Temple Square, with black-suited men opening the locked gate to let other black-suited men in. Past the white-on-white landscape of columbine plantings along the walls sheltering the Mormon Tabernacle. Uphill. Thin air, this, at 4,400 feet. Through a neighborhood, where a flight of stairs lures me down, down, down to the street below. The Memorial Park lies before me, serene with its statuary and crypts. Another runner passes me, and climbs another set of steps. After a brief hesitation, I follow, and find myself on a switchback path heading up, up, up... Opening to the State Capitol building.




It's time to head back to the hotel. Feeling some regret at having such a brief adventure, I wind my way back. The Utah drivers seem apologetic rather than irritated as I cross the street.

As I near the hotel, I run solo upstream against the flood of construction workers heading toward the residential high-rise that offers hope of urban renewal.

There's a pride in my solo exploration, a delight in aching muscles and in seeing new landscape at 6.5 mph.