“God has cared for these trees, saved them from drought, disease, avalanches, and a thousand tempests and floods. But he cannot save them from fools.” –John Muir
UNLESS
Today, being Dr. Seuss’ 108th Birthday and all, is perhaps the most perfect and auspicious timing for the release of Universal Picture’s animated interpretation of Seuss’ classic children’s book, The Lorax.
The Man bought me this book as a Valentine’s Day gift and, upon reacquainting myself with the story I once thought I knew, I was dumbfounded. The man (Dr. Seuss, that is) was BRILLIANT. To think that this book was published in 1971, “in the days when the grass was still green and the pond was still wet and the clouds were still clean,” amazes me. How did he know that we would chop down the forests to build the houses and other such “thneeds” that we somehow felt were more important that preserving the homes of the animals that lived there.
Okay, maybe I am getting too preachy here. After all, I too live in a 4 bedroom home in the ‘burbs. But I do wonder if we’ve gone too far. I mean, just look around. How many buildings in your surrounding area are vacant, be it office, home, or other business? How many grocery stores or coffee shops do you have within a 5 mile radius of your home? Do we need all that? Really?
All that aside, what about the open space preserves, national parks, or other beautiful places which we have somehow managed to save from development? How many times have you seen a seemly-perfect tree such as this manzanita tree out in the middle of these paradises? Look closely: more than one person has carved their name into the tree trunk. It’s sad.
One look at this makes me wish that there was really and truly a Lorax to speak for the poor defenseless trees, for the birds, the bears, the fish… and for us. If there is anything we need, it is glorious places such as these. In my humble opinion, these are the “thneeds” that-all-people-need.
In the Enchanted Forest
I wish I could tell you that my marathon training is back on track, that I’m now running easily and without incident. Sadly, that has not been the case.
On Saturday, I set out for my long run and, once again, got tripped up. Less than 3 miles from home, I was face to face with the pavement again. I was on a rock for a few minutes assessing the damage: the just-formed scab was now on the inside of my pants and blood was running down the front of leg for the 2nd time in one week. I decided that this was not to be come back day and, in tears, I called my friend, Wendy to pick me up.
Trying to analyze but not get hung up on my recent tendency towards tripping, I began asking questions of myself. My first consideration was whether or not the changes in my vision since my Lasik surgery in 2000 could be at the root of my falls. At an eye appointment later in the day, I posed the question. I knew the answer before I asked the question. Although the circumstances around each of these falls involved my looking at one thing and missing another, my vision is not so bad as to be the cause.
The more obvious etiology of my tendency towards hitting the pavement remains: I have a tendency towards dragging my right foot. While I can easily blame it on residual effects from a childhood illness, the fact is I’ve been dealing with this for most of my life. I know I do it. The bottom of my Vibram Bikilas clearly show it, as does my medical record at Kaiser. The question is, what am I going to do about it?
My main goal was to get back out there — using caution but not so much that it prevents me from enjoying the free feeling that running gives me.