I had the most strange and enlightening dream last night . . . it was extremely detailed, and open to much interpretation (which I will certainly give, never fear). 

THE DREAM!

A friend and I were biking through Maine.  We were riding down a highway, ready to leave the town we were in and head for home.  I had a GPS on my bike that was programmed for that very location and I thought we were all set.  Having been in this town in Maine on previous occasions, I had a vague idea about which road was the one I should take.  As I approached the seemingly familiar turn-off, I waited to hear the GPS voice tell me to turn right.  Alas, it did not.  I began to panic, thinking that it was sending me on a different route, or perhaps I was worried that my sense of recall was faulty and I hadn't recognized the road after all.

Being so reliant on technology in an unfamiliar place, I kept on going, waiting for the infamous "RECALCULATING", but it was not forthcoming.  My friend and I continued on, and the ensuing road was shady, dark, and extremely hilly.  We pushed ourselves physically to the point of near exhaustion as we waited for some direction from the GPS.  But still, nothing.  We continued on into a more thickly-wooded area and ended up on a rough, trail-like road that led further into the woods.

Finally, we came upon a pair of summer cottages in the woods that were close together, and which were each inhabited by an older woman.  We made our way there and finally disembarked from our bikes.  I tapped around on the GPS to find out why it had been such a disappointment and realized that I had inadvertently pressed the mute button, rendering it silent in our travels.  I also tried to get a fix on how far we were from where we should have been.  I pinpointed our location, then zoomed out to get the big picture.  Doing so made me realize that that we had somehow made it to the coast of Maine, and though it was beautiful, it was miles and miles from where we should have been to continue our journey home.

The two women that we met were kindly and sympathetic to our plight and offered to drive us back to the main road so we could continue our journey.  I asked the woman who offered first if she had a car large enough to transport our bikes.  She did not, so her neighbor volunteered to drive us in her minivan.

I awoke just as we were making our way to the garage . . .

THE INTERPRETATION! 

As a general thought, the dream represented to me -- at least in this stage of my life -- the fact that if we journey through life on our own power (the bikes?) without God's voice to guide us and direct us (the GPS?), we get lost.  Despite this, he allows our path to cross with those of people who can help show us the way back.  Aside from this overall idea, there were several interesting nuances to the dream that can also be food for thought:

*  we often hit the MUTE button on what God has to say to us (either purposefully, or by accident); sometimes we are more like little children sticking their fingers in their ears chanting "la-la-la-la" so as not to hear!

*  we may vaguely recognize the right road to take, but without some concrete guidance or direction, we have a tendency to just ride on past

* why don't we panic as much when we think we don't hear from God as we do if we don't get proper direction from a piece of technology?

* when we go on a different road from the one God has planned for us, the journey is often darker, more difficult, and exhausting -- physically, emotionally, and mentally

* we may not think we are that far from God when we choose a different path (after all, we may be living a good life, not blatantly sinning, etc.) but when we return to the road He wants us on and look back in retrospect (or zoom out to get the big picture), we see how truly far from Him we actually were

* those people who help us back onto the "main road" may not be what we expect

* and a final interesting note:  while the friend and I were living the free and adventurous life biking around, it was a minivan -- the epitome of stability and ordinariness -- that brought us back to where we should have been

So, it's been a while since I've written on this blog . . . school is out, summer is here, and in my running world, I've logged about 52 miles in the last 30 days.  According to Nike+, that is about twice the distance that other women my age have logged.  Who knew? 

Although I love the freedom of summer and the abundance of time I have to go running, the one thing I LOATHE is the heat.  On these hot and humid days when it seems all but impossible to run a mere three miles, I question my ability to ever run 26.2.  The Hampton Beach Marathon is still on my radar, but I'm not feeling very optimistic about being in shape enough to run it.  It feels like I was in better shape last year at this time than I am now.  I suppose the best I can do is keep at it and add the miles a little at a time until I get up there into the high-teens.

Wish me luck!
Julie

One more reason I know I'm not a Kenyan . . .

In running circles, there is a t-shirt that I often see that says "In my dreams, I'm a Kenyan" . . . for the obvious reason that Kenyans seem to be among the speediest folk on the planet.  For this reason alone, I know without a doubt that I'm most definitely NOT a Kenyan.

Yesterday, as I was running, however, one additional reason occurred to me:  $$$$.  As my feet pounded the pavement, I was mentally calculating the cost of the outfit and all the running paraphernalia I had on my body.  It came to at least $300, not including the iPhone strapped to my arm, and the Apple headphones plugged into my ears.

That outrageous amount is not intended to brag about how rich I am, because I'm surely not (I teach preschool after all . . . ),  but simply to give a picture about how fancy, high-tech, and yes -- expensive, running has become as a sport.  Granted, a Kenyan probably wouldn't need a Brooks running jacket to combat 35-degree weather, and if he/she were running in Kenya, their Nike+ GPS app on their iPhone would probably fail big-time for lack of a wi-fi signal, but still.

Believe me, I do appreciate the advances that have been made in running gear, especially at this cold time of year.  But my goal from now on is to -- mentally -- keep my priorities and motiviations simple, focused, and as Kenyan-like as I possibly can.

Oh, and by the way . . . MERRY CHRISTMAS!

a blog . . . really???

Initially, I only signed up for a blog account so that I could comment on someone else's blog.  I never intended to actually USE my own blog for any purpose, meaningful or otherwise, yet here I am.  After all, my life is pretty simple, with nothing exciting happening on a fairly regular basis. 

I've seen other friends' blogs that are ever-so-intriguing:  some share the journey of growing a family, some are job-oriented, some are about trips or projects, some are a tool for chronicling a battle with cancer, some highlight accomplishments like training for and completing a marathon (which I've done, btw, but never really found anything insightful about which to comment).

So I figured I would simply ramble about whatever suits me, or about whatever is going on in my life at the moment.  Be prepared for some ridiculousness, silliness, and possibly even some visits to snoresville.  Dull or exciting, though, it's my life, and I'm living it.