Words 670; pics and link to essay
Since I
started the training regime a day early, I would have had three days of rest,
so I ran 4 ‘quick’ miles today. It was
as if I celebrated my first full day in Moscow with a run. My new friend from Storm Lake, Iowa (13 miles
from Newell, where I went to school) is hosting me. We met last spring by happenstance and we
figured out that his cousin used to come to our farm and treat our sick cattle.
He lives in the compound of the American
Embassy. I feel like a real
celebrity. With my badge, I can walk in
an out unescorted just as if I belonged here.
Anyway…it
rained last night so there were many puddles all around. Mysteriously, there was something about my
shoes and the way I was walking that threw water on my legs. It was like the rubber bottom of the sole wicked
the water to the front where it had separated from the upper forming a small
flap. I looked down and saw the water flying
up like tiny fountains that proceeded to make the entirety of my lower leg
soaking wet. The effect of this was that
even when there was no water exactly where I was walking, I was still getting
wet because of the buildup and the delayed action of water transfer.
I
trotted/strolled down to the Moscow River and began my run. For nearly the first 2 miles, I was able to easily avoid the
puddles. At one point, however, the
asphalt along the river began to look exactly like a car that has had Turtle
Wax rubbed on its surface. At one
instant, the water began to bead up so little puddles were everywhere—impossible
to avoid. So…whine, whine whine—my feet
were getting wet. Big deal.
Today, again,
each mile was quicker than the previous mile.
I set a possible goal at 8 minutes per mile for the marathon. My first mile today was 8:02, then 7:53,
7:33, and 7:21. I was hurting at the end
and pushing like crazy. Eight minutes
for 26 miles is unlikely.
I finished
the run immediately below the Russian White House. This is the house of the Russian
government. I took a couple pictures
because I wanted to show that, at least cosmetically, things have improved
since tanks attacked this building in 1993.
At that time, President Yeltsin and the parliament disagreed. Yeltsin dissolved the parliament and the
legislators proclaimed such was an illegal act; they held up their own person
as the acting President. In the trouble
that followed somewhere between 159 and 2000 people were killed.
As I walked
around the building looking for other good angles for my picture, I noticed
what looked like a gravestone similar to those alongside the road where someone
has flipped a car and died. I looked
more closely to see that the marker said, “At this spot on the morning of 4 October(?)
1993, two young people were killed by defenders.” Thus pointing out the irony that those who
were supposed to be defending the country/building/government were ‘killing’
people. Some 20 meters away is another
larger monument to ‘Patriots’ who were killed in 1993. I walked away with a feeling that the road to
change is sometimes rocky.
 |
| Here on the morning of 4 (October?) 1993 were shot two young people (who were) acting as defenders |
 |
| Here Patriots perished |
 |
| White House in 1993 |
 |
| My picture of the White House 2013 |
A more
significant feeling as I walked away was one of privilege and freedom that I
was allowed to take the pictures at all.
I can remember a time when pulling out a camera (at nearly any location,
much less within the shadow of the Russian legislature!) was seen as an act of
suspicion worthy of confiscation or arrest.
This fall
marks the 25th anniversary of my Peace Walk in Ukraine. During these exact days in 1988, we were
walking through the countryside, making friends and talking about peace. I don’t think it’s too great for us to
believe that we, all of us on the Walk, had some small hand in bringing about
the changes that we see today.
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