Wide Open Spaces

Last night I ran from Jose's apartment. The street that runs alongside his complex dead ends into Clear Lake, so it's a fairly scenic route -- when I'm not enjoying the water view, I'm admiring the million dollar homes at the end of the road. There's one piece of land that has been cleared in prepartion for building a dozen more of those expensive homes, but construction hasn't started yet. There are no frames, and not even a hint of a foundation yet. I'm sure this will change soon, but for now there is only this bit of land, a view of the lake, and two paved but emtpy streets awaiting their future neighborhood. It was fun to run there, even though it's such a small neighborhood that going to the end of each street and back covered less than a mile. The lack of any houses or structures made me feel oddly free. I got rained on, but only for a couple minutes. In the end, I covered 3.3 miles. Thanks again, Hurricane Dolly, for the brief respite from our normal summer temperatures. If only we could get that benefit without the destructive tendancies of a hurricane...

(Side note: One of the streets that already hosts pricey homes is named Carina Court. I suppose at some point we'll have to steal that street sign for Gavin and Jen. Or Carina can steal it herself when she turns into a teenage hoodlum.)

After 3 straight days of running (the most consecutive days in a while, not to mention a bit longer mileage than I've been doing lately), my shins are sore. I may take today off, or I may ride my bike on the trainer for a bit since it's so wet outside. We'll see. I'm taking tomorrow off work even though our flight doesn't leave until the evening because I know I'd be useless in the office anyway. Let's face it: I've been pretty useless all week. Vacation thoughts have taken over my mind...