![]() A couple mornings ago I heard the summer dawn sound of a mourning dove. It immediately brought me back to mornings in my teens at 735 West Green Street when, up early, voices hushed, mourning doves cooing, my dad, Marcia and I would jog around the race track. We would stretch our arms and walk across the wet grass in the backyard, down the hill, across the swamp and over the fence to the fairgrounds, where a one half mile harness racing track was kept in good condition. If we were lucky, a horse and driver would also be up early, training at the track. Dad would go on these occasional diets which included eating dry toast and daily jogging. Sometimes he and Jim Sell would start up a daily jogging routine around our neighborhood in Hastings, Jim was all "Go Blue" and dad was in his white ragged canvas sneakers. Eating dry toast and cutting out the beer seemed to make my dad especially grumpy, and I would try to persuade him to at least add some jam to sweeten his mood. But he always stuck with his diet plan. I always felt that I am among the fortunate ones who wake up easily as the veil of dawn moves into day. Dad and Marcia were also early morning risers. Why fortunate? As a kid, early morning was when I shared my sweetest moments with Dad. Sitting quietly next to him in the metal folding chair as he navigated the bus towards another unexplored vista. No talking. Everyone else still sleeping in the bunks that he made. Just watching and feeling the presence of dawn opening on grand mountains around us. Early river mornings, dad's coffee in his hand, frogs galunking. Early mornings at the race track, running side by side, just quiet panting and the soft thump thump of sneakers on dirt and the coo of the doves. Now in my 60's I need to diet. I was an all or nothing kind of dieter. Just stop eating. But I want to do it differently. I've thought about dad's style; cut out a few things here and there and add jogging until the excess pounds are off. It seems so simple. Or maybe it was all about companionship in the early morning, when no extra weight was needed.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Bodhanaa NithyanandaWriting to Discover and En-spire. Archives
April 2021
Categories |