Running Atlanta

Finish speech.  Time to see the city that I've only seen through my hotel room.

Black knee length tights, racerback shirt, long-sleeve shirt, sunglasses, cap.  Ipod.  Grab a running map from the front desk.  Turn left out the door.  Blue skies.  Probably around 70 degrees.  A bit windy.  Down two blocks on W Peachtree to 10th.  Take a right and head for The Park.  Pass cute little eateries with outdoor seats filled with those having a late lunch or afternoon snack.  Too hot.  Wiggle out of long sleeve while running (nice spectacle) and tie it around waist.  Can’t help but smile.  Left snow in Seattle.

Reach Piedmont Park.  Run around the perimeter.  To my left is a vast grass area.  The grass is golden brown.  Hibernating during the winter.   There are picnickers, sunbathers, football tossers.  Mounds of people lounging and milling on the brown grass.  Others stroll along the path with strollers, on bicycles or rollerblades and a few wheelchairs.  I weave in and out around them.     Around the loop there are two dog parks.  No pretense of grass.  Just brown dirt.  Try to lose myself in the trails of Piedmont.  Run a few times along the dirt track set aside for joggers.  Run around the lake – too small for anything but decoration.

Head up over a bridge into a residential neighborhood.  The sidewalks are generally narrow and in disrepair.  But they are filled with people.  I compare this to the small towns I've run through in Idaho.    Huge pristine sidewalks but everyone is driving in a car.  I like the vibrancy of Midtown Atlanta.  Where people are the flora.