Notes from the Red Bird House

"Well, that was a steaming pile of poo..." This was my first thought as I stopped my Garmin and began walking to cool down. I'd just finished my morning run, my first in nearly a month, and I wasn't delighted. 8:46/mile pace over 7.5 miles. Pedestrian. Slovenly. Mistake-driven. We're on the cusp of summer here in Central Texas when warm soup and cool showers become facts of life for the near-interminable duration. Hot days followed by warm nights and even warmer mornings coupled with a nifty upswing in humidity make running - at least for me - complete bullshit. Look, I don't like running much even when conditions are perfect (45F with moderate winds) but at least it's tolerable. Summer in Austin, though... It's a wonder I ever leave the house from May to October. It's an even bigger wonder that I attempt to run through it.  Which I did begrudgingly this morning. I realized a couple days ago that I have a race in two months, a race I'm flyin...

Bedtime is a non-negotiable for me. Usually. I have to be up at 2AM which is in roughly six hours and I should already be in bed. If not asleep, reading while I wait for sleep to come. And yet, tonight, of all nights, I'm not. I'm writing. And truth be told, I haven't felt much like writing lately. So maybe that's why I decided to give into the words tonight. The truth is I really don't know. I just got home from a memorial service. A friend died unexpectedly last Saturday morning while showing off his brand new kick ass lawn mower. He had a heart attack and, despite the valiant attempts of his neighbors to resuscitate him, Mark died right there in his driveway. Arguably there are worse ways to go. He was surrounded by people who cared about him and he was mere inches from the lawn mower he adored. That would be the equivalent of me going while writing or just after finishing a spin class. So, I don't exactly know what I'm doing tonight. Drowning my sorr...

I did something this morning that I almost never do. I was going to say "that I never do" but, given that I did it this morning, "never" seemed an exaggeration. I suppose the list of possibilities is near endless. Maybe I skipped my morning coffee or I didn't eat right when I got out of bed. Maybe I didn't work out. Or maybe I rode a real bike outdoors instead of my spin one indoors. I suppose I could be writing this from bed, meaning I haven't yet gotten out of bed. Maybe I have a rip roaring hang over. Or, it is Sunday so maybe I went to church. Or - oooooh, this has to be it - I had morning sex. That's it! No, it's not...for many reasons. Going to church on a Sunday morning is more probable than me ever having an overnight guest to engage in morning sex with. Or any sex. At any time of day. Remember that I'm an atheist (and not currently doing research for a novel about a nun). Let that sink in. In my atheist life, church is a more...