running by the belching cars

Words 389

            Last night, I had a lesson with a young man who is starting college in England next week.  He wants to see me every day to brush up on his English.  My director said he is from “one of the three most influential families in Moscow.”  Even though I was eagerly waiting for calls from realtors about apartments, I left my phone at the reception area so it wouldn’t interrupt us.  I’m sure you can predict what happened.  I forgot the phone when I left. 

            This morning, I got up and ran around the Garden Ring to the office.  The Ring is an 8-12 lane street that moves around the center of Moscow.  I ran on the sidewalk, of course, which is actually quite far from the belching of the cars, especially when you consider parked cars, construction, delivery vehicles, etc. 

            It was much more fun than running along the river to Gorky Park.  I can’t figure myself out exactly.  I like to say that I don’t like cities.  I like to go camping, hiking, etc.  But I get more enjoyment out of running along the street than running through a leafy park with fresh air.  What I liked most was running out onto the street in front of cars waiting.  Oftentimes, I was able to run by a group of people standing on the corner—also waiting.  So everybody was waiting, letting their cars idle, using gas, creating pollution and going nowhere.  I love the exhilarating feeling of dashing across the street, leaving the cars to sit in their carbon-filled cloud of disgust.

            The office was going to open at 9:00.  After 4 1/2 miles, I was at the office.  I could run back, scurry like a rabbit, come BACK to the office and try to run around the metro to my next meetings, or I could run some more and be back to the office once it had opened.  I did the second.  Luckily, when I got back to the office at 8:51, Larisa had just arrived and when I opened the door, she held up my phone.  Very convenient.

            I was fortunate to run when it was not raining much.  Just some drops every now and then.  The rest of the day was totally wet.

04-Sep
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