Rainbows and purse racks

Rainbows are supposed to be God's promise (Gen. 9: 13-15) that he'll never again flood the entire earth .... but I'm beginning to wonder.  Yes, I live in the Pacific Northwest, and yes it's supposed to rain here, and NOT that I'm doubting scripture, but let's be reasonable.  This deluge we've been having is a bit over the top.  (And the normally quiet little stream-now-turned-raging-torrent behind my back fence is almost literally over ITS top.)  An axiom that one often hears about our weather is that if you don't like it, wait ten minutes.  Well, I've been waiting ..... and waiting .... and we're into our third soggy day of this downpour.   It's long past wearing out its welcome.   

You see, the BIG problem is not the flooding and random power-outages here and there.  No, those are just minor annoyances.  The REALLY BIG problem is that the storm outside has forced me to transform what is normally a handy and convenient purse-rack, back to a treadmill.  And then I've had to .... USE IT.

Runner's World magazine wisely had this to say:  "Treadmill (n.) A torture device perfected in the 20th century designed to destroy one's mind through sensory deprivation and monotony."

So there it is.  In spite of what one would think is an ideal setting for one of these beasts:  In my bedroom, next to a picture window with a lovely view, in front of a large flat screen TV (with cable!) and a fan, and a few steps from my bathroom and shower.  And not to mention the lock on my bedroom door .... but, as I said, in spite of these attempts to make it tolerable, running indoors was never meant to be.  It's just not natural.  It's kind of like fake Christmas trees in this evergreen corner of the world.  Running is for the great outdoors!  To run into an arctic headwind, dogs yapping at your ankles, flash-judgments between stopping for that traffic light or sprinting across the street, realizing that you really should have "gone" before you left the house because your bathroom is now miles away, and having to wipe your faucet-like nose with your gloves and/or sleeve because you forgot to bring a kleenex.  THAT is the joy of running!

When I'm running on a treadmill, it's a constant battle with myself.  Just make it to a mile! - I growl to Self.  Just one mile ... you can do it.  Running a mile outdoors is easy.  Indoors it's a miserable test of endurance because I know I can jump off anytime.  But when I'm outside, if I've ran three miles from home, I pretty much have to run those three miles back again.  There's no getting around it, so there's no battle.  You just do it.

Maybe tomorrow the clouds will let up.  Maybe tomorrow my purses will return to their proper home.  And maybe tomorrow I can return to the streets, and the exhaust fumes, and the traffic lights, and the puddles, and ..... why am I suddenly humming that song from Annie?