sixty-fourth street...

there is a road by my parent's house that i have grown up running on. it is exactly one mile from my driveway to the first stop sign and made the perfect bench mark for runs. it is mildly hilly, fairly shady, the pavement is full of cracks and patches, and there is virtually no traffic. it has an interesting way of bridging suburbia and rural areas: one side has clipped lawns and cookie cutter houses (with a target and meijer thrown it) and the other is fields and farms, all in one mile.

i cannot tell you the numerous times i have run on it: i've trained for cross country, i've thought deep, deep thoughts, i've survived winter blizzards and i've run there when the world seems too much for me, when i need to cry and be alone. it was mile one of my run and it welcomed me home when i was exhausted from the journey in between.

i know this road. it is as familiar to me as the breath i breath. i know exactly how long it takes for me to get from my house to the first corn field, to the house with the BIG dog, to the yellow stop sign warning sign, and down the hill to the actual stop sign. i know which pot holes are where and at what points i get tired. i can hear my footsteps on the pavement.

this road represents peace and continuity. so many times when life was out of control, it was here that i went. we all have places like this- places we call our own and flock to when nothing seems right, when we're feeling a bit claustrophobic of life. this place also represents god to me-it is my temple. it was on these runs that i would meet God, where i could clearly see what he was doing. it was here, along this road where i could begin to make sense of life, or at the very least, feel God breathing with me with each breath i took. he was telling me to keep going, to keep journeying, feeling and exploring, which was what i often needed most.

so, sixty-fourth street, here's to you. keep being, cracks and all, a peaceful road where people can unwind and have space. where people can experience a bridge from new to old, madness to peace, and chaos to God.