Running Bugs Me

Yesterday I went for a run in The Harbor. (For my out of town followers that is the downtown area of the maritime town of Gig Harbor where I work and spend a good deal of my free time).
Because it was sunny and reasonably warm out, every resident of Gig Harbor over the age of thirty was out and about with their dogs, kids, bikes, walkers, you name it. They were wandering and enjoying the sites chattering on- Look there's a beautiful sailboat, oh what a lovely view of Mt. Rainier, oh smell those muffins baking at Suzanne's...and then there I was, a sight in my own right. I was jogging along with bright yellow wires running from my ears to my crotch, a blue ipod Shuffle hanging from the collar of my shirt rhytmically scraping my neck and ear pods popping out of my ears, because they are too big. My hair was blowing every which way, because I forgot to put it up. I smiled and gave some breathless "hellos" to the passerbys. And though I was not the most put together looking runner, people smiled at me with respect. After all, I was the one running.

Confidently, I turned the corner and that's when it hit me. Literally. Smack right in the eye. I stopped in my tracks making some kind of desperate squeal. The same people who might have been smiling at me earlier turned their heads, suddenly finding their partner's conversation about constipation intensely interesting.

Something was in my eye and I had to get it out. Was it dirt? A rock? A small bird? I pinched my eyelids open, bent over at the waist and started shaking my head feverishly. When the shaking from left to right didn't work, I added an up and down nod. I crouched down further, thinking gravity might do the trick. A few casual hops might help shake things up. All the time I was doing this I was aware that there were several people passing me by. I was glad that no one stopped to help me, how embarrassing! At the same time I was irate! Why isn't anyone stopping to see if I'm okay? Maybe they didn't know I was in distress, maybe they just thought I had really good Metallica song on my ipod. Finally after a few more desperate shakes, I stood up and started to run again.

I only made it a few yards when I noticed a big black spot in my vision. I couldn't even focus. I stopped again, fixed my ear bud which was once again falling out, and tried blinking out whatever was stuck. My eye started watering and in no time I had black mascara running down my cheek (I ran after work and still had eye make-up on). Soon, I felt something move to the corner of my eye. I stuck my fingertip up and sure enough there lay a small, mangled fly. Poor guy looked like he had only three or four legs. Well, at least I can say he put up a fight. My eye watered for the remainder of my run, probably 3 more miles. Occasionally, another little leg would roll out of my tear duct and onto my cheek.

Though it was disgusting and kind of hurt, I had to feel for the little guy. At least I would probably get a blog out of the incident, he, on the other hand, wouldn't be so lucky. And now as I reflect on the whole incident, I realize that fly found out what Mike has known for years, sometimes my baby blues can be killer.