Thinking Out Loud Thursday: Nostalgia and a Summer Storm

 

 

This Thursday, I’m thinking out loud about a random assortment of things. Some from running, others studying, and some brought on by the storm that flashed over the Northeast on Tuesday!

For starters, I got all nostalgic during some of my runs over the last week or two not because of any retro races, but because of all the graduation signs and balloons posted on front lawns around the town where I grew up. It’s been six years since I graduated high school, but sometimes it feels like just yesterday, whereas others it feels like a lifetime ago. Seeing these signs definitely brought out the latter! It is weird to think that a whole quarter of my life thus far has happened in between. Time really flies… My class always joked that we were ‘the last of the O’s’ because we were the class of 2009 – but pretty soon, kids who were BORN in the 2000s will be graduating and oh my goodness what has happened to make time go by so fast?

 

 

 

Most of those signs got blown away anyway on Tuesday afternoon, when a ginormous summer thunderstorm hit southern New England. For twenty minutes, rain came down in sheets in a torrential downpour, and after the storm passed there were trees down everywhere in my wooded, hilly Connecticut town. I went out for a walk with Sasha afterwards to view the effects, and of the the five side roads that branch off and lead to the woods path behind our house, four were cut off by downed trees and one had a sparking power line draped right across! They had cleared most of it by yesterday morning, but my usual running route was still interrupted.

 

I ran under this one…

…here I had to turn around!

 

Luckily the storm crews were quick and the lights are back on around town. I certainly had cause to be thankful for the generator we installed after the last few major storms. Being without electricity (or even running water for some people) is really tough. It makes you think about how people lived before we had these things, and the way that nature truly determined how we lived our lives.

 

In any event, we were able to do something fun even though the Internet and cable were down, because we still have a DVD player at my parents’ house, and had a film from Netflix called Big Hero 6. I was reluctant to watch it at first, and sort of mopey because I wasn’t able to Skype with a college friend as planned, but the storm turned out to have a silver lining because I really enjoyed the movie. Since Disney is obviously awesome the story itself was well thought out, although I didn’t really understand the premise right off the bat. Somehow, Tokyo and San Francisco had merged to become “San Fransiyoko” and the Golden Gate Bridge had pagodas on top. But the fictitious “San Francisco Technology Institute” definitely evoked both Berkeley and Stanford, which I’ve visited because friends are studying there, and I enjoyed seeing how they twisted up the city in cartoon.

 

The real Sather Tower at Berkeley during my January 2014 visit, rendered futuristically in the film

 

And speaking of movies and TV, I have to say I still can’t get over the fact that studying for the bar made me learn that the whole Chuck-and-Blair-get-married-and-invoke-spousal-silence deal that went down on the Gossip Girl series finale wouldn’t have worked in the state of New York according to its actual criminal law. I know I complained about this Tuesday, and I really shouldn’t be that bothered by the liberties taken on TV, but still. There is very little excitement in my life at the moment as the bar approaches, just about a month to go, so even little things like that stir me up! Really, the only other things going on are my runs and eats. Like my delicious waffle-‘wiches that I keep on brunchin’ on, and my frozen Greek yogurt and ice cream parfaits for dessert. 

 

Gluten Free Waffle + Turkey Cheddar Egg Sandwich

 

Greek yogurt frozen up and mixed with Moose Tracks – a chocolate covered strawberry peanut butter cup parfait!

 

 

Oh, and Sasha is also a super exciting part of my life of course, because she always makes me smile, even when she is being totally frustrating! Like not wanting to come inside the house when a storm is gathering.

 

She didn’t want to come inside, so gave me her “why are you telling me what to do” look

 

 

 

Well, that’s what’s on my mind this Thursday! What’s on yours?

 

 

 

 

© 2015 Renaissance Runner Girl. All rights reserved.

Advertisement