Day 5 NaBloPoMo at yeah write guest blogger: Sam Merel

Sunday November 4, 2012

8:00 a. m.

My eyes snapped open and, for a few anxiety-ridden heartbeats, I didn’t know where I was. Once I figured it out, my heartbeat subsided, but my anxiety certainly didn’t.

New room. New house. New neighborhood. New normal. 

I closed my eyes and tried to drift off again, but after two minutes, I realized that this much new doesn’t really allow for peaceful sleeping.

So with an angry glance at my husband who was still sleeping and who was, by all accounts, unaffected by the tidal wave of change that was suddenly engulfing our life, I got up and prepared to do what I do when I don’t know what else to do.

Run.

Anticipating this possibility, I packed running clothes and shoes into my suitcase to avoid having to rummage through boxes – an activity that would surely have sent me straight over the edge.

I walked down the stairs and outside with my eyes practically closed so as to avoid catching a glimpse of our demolished but not yet rebuilt kitchen. I tuned my GPS to one of the routes I’d pre-planned before our move, and I started to run.

I ran through unfamiliar neighborhoods still darkened from Hurricane Sandy’s wide-spread power outages and streets that were nearly impassable due to downed trees and power lines. I dodged Con-Ed trucks with workers doing their best to return lives to normal and laughed at myself through a haze of tears because I no longer knew what normal was.

I ran because I’m a runner and because one year ago yesterday, I desperately needed a reminder that I was still myself, even when everything else was different.

Monday November 4, 2013

6:00 a. m.

My eyes snapped open to the sounds of my alarm blaring in the darkness of my bedroom. I kissed my still-sleeping husband, put on the clothes that I had laid out the night before, and crept silently downstairs. Leaving my GPS watch on the dining room table, I went outside and I started to run.

I ran through my neighborhood as the sky began to lighten with the first signs of sunrise. I ran through familiar streets, following a route I have run so many times I could do it in my sleep. I dodged piles of golden leaves, and smiled as I turned back onto my street and saw my house at the bottom of the hill.

I ran because I’m a runner, and because one year later, I am still myself, and things don’t seem so different anymore.

*****

Today is the final day to add your blog to the NaBloPoMo challenge grid to blog for 30 straight days with your yeah write community. We’ll have weekly perk package drawings, so if you’ve missed the first few days of November, you can still be eligible for a drawing next week.

Our yeah write #134 weekly writing challenge grid is also open today. If you have a NaBloPoMo post dated no earlier than this past Sunday that meets our submission guidelines, feel free to join  our friendly writing competition. Here’s a list of our recent winners if you need an idea of what we’re looking for. Tiny forewarning: we will return submissions that are better suited for another blogging event, but we’d love to have you if you’ve got something compelling for our readers.