TILL DUSK TO US PART

The running season officially started last night. After work I donned running shorts, a T-shirt, a sweatshirt and a well used baseball cap and walked around the apartment announcing to anything that would listen that I was about to go for a run. Even the cat giggled. Once I had trumpeted my soon to be running schedule and route I put on my running shoes and ventured downstairs to the lobby.
I told everyone in the elevator that I was going running. I stretched as I was conversing with the doorman. The first outside run of the year for me is similar to Groundhogs day and I would shout it from every roof top if I could.
The weather was not warm. But it was March. And as I grew up in London March meant warmer weather. I will no longer talk about Winter. That is behind me and Spring is beginning to launch a comeback with blue skies , slightly warmer temperatures and flowering buds nervously appearing in blotches across the city.
My proposed route would start off on the streets of the Upper East Side , venturing westwards towards the park. I would make a complete circumference of the reservoir in Central Park and then traverse the streets back home. After I had panted like a parched dog and hauled my body around for thirty minutes I would have run about three miles and would be very proud of my first outside exercise of the year.
I was extremely focused on my running and continued to be " in the zone" until I reached the most Northerly part of my run and had a clear view of the Midtown skyline. I kept on running but was in awe of this spectacular view ahead of me. The light had almost faded and the water had turned to a shimmering dark grey mass with lines of white and speckles of light dust. The lights of the running path reflected on the waters surface and looked like stars that had fallen from the sky and were emanating light, dazzling anyone who looked upon them. The skyline was rich with the colors of dusk. There were dark blues, fading yellows, slightly stronger whites and a whole host of creams, silks and what looked like glowing embers. It was spectacular. A view such as this, in the park, contrasting the reflections on the water with the overbearing sights of high rise buildings reaching up to the sky is what makes running outside in New York such a pleasure.

I had forgotten from last year just how this moment translates into a oneness with the City of New York that permeates my inner being. Even though it was cold , I experienced a warm feeling that radiated all through my body. I was at peace with myself and had New York City to thank for it. When I returned from my run my younger son informed me that apart from the sweat and the strange smell seeping from my pores , he noticed a strange aura about me. I tried explaining that I had just had an out of body experience in the park at dusk but he walked away in my mid sentence screaming out " Daddy's gone all weird again Mommy."