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Dave Griffin On Running
The Carroll County Times – Sunday, August 16, 2009
I stepped out onto my back deck the other night, just before heading up to bed. It was a perfect late summer evening, and I couldn’t resist taking a moment to enjoy it. The locust were calling out, telling me the gradual transition between summer and fall had begun. The cool air smelled exactly like it did when I was a boy, when I would play outside until the darkness made the ball nearly impossible to see. By this time in the evening, my mom would have called me inside.
I grew up outdoors. We played baseball in the summer and football in the winter, and altered the rules based on whatever circumstances were presented. Two boys were enough to make two teams.
From the time I could walk, until the time we moved away from my childhood home, I must have run a thousand miles in my own back yard. There was exhilaration in pulling the fresh air into my lungs and peace when I lay down in the grass. I can still remember watching the clouds pass by as we took a break between games.
Having grown up playing sports, I fancied myself the athlete when I went to high school. I didn’t understand that my small build was a hindrance, until the basketb all coach decided he didn’t need a tiny point guard. After that, running itself became my game of choice. There were no size requirements for a distance runner.
From that point on, the roads and fields where I ran became my playground. As I grew older, running gave me relief from the daily pressures of life. Running was my exploration. It was my play.
Fatherhood changed things. It shifted my priorities. I gave up my focus on running in favor of things that were more important. I needed to be a dad without worrying about getting outside for a run. And so, play time came when life permitted, which wasn’t all that often.
My son, Paul, is my second child. From the moment his personality began to show itself, there was a glow around him, as if his very soul resonated. Paul was filled with joy.
As he grew, I realized how blessed I was to have him. He explored the things around him in ways that led me to new discovery myself. His belly laugh lured me down onto the floor where he gave me something I had been missing more than I realized. For as long as I can remember now, I’ve looked forward to playing with Paul.
I’m resisting it, but the locusts are making me face the truth; fall is coming again. It’s going to be different this year, because this is the fall that Paul begins his senior year of high school. His passions are leading him in new directions.
It’s sad to see him move on, even if I knew it was coming all along. I’m just glad that I have running again, so I can feel the exhilaration of pulling fresh air into my hungry lungs, and so I still have something all of us need, and many fail to keep - play.
Dave Griffin is the Times’ running writer. His column appears every other Sunday. Reach him at dpgflyingfeet@aol.com or join the Facebook group, Dave Griffin On Running.