The full moon is out tonight, not that I see it. It’s Passover, a holiday based on the phases of the moon. All I see is night shadows cast by the light to the south, and high above the Big Dipper. I realize in a few weeks my view of the stars will greatly improve. I shall miss the pine, but it’s long dead, and blocks the sky. I stand outside, enjoying the night air, finding it’s just a little too cold for bare feet still. But, I continue to stand, basking in the quiet.

Again tonight I feel less than conversational, my heart poured out in other contexts. More and more I’m running during the day, letting the cool mountain air spur me ever onward up and down, up and down the hills. I know altitude has an influence. I wonder what kind of influence 5500 feet has.

All is well, to be sure, though that is also an up and down perspective. Maybe this is why I always like running through hilly paths, while I hate running on treadmills or around tracks. Besides the beauty, well that’s a major point, it expresses an understanding of life, the slog and the coast, the strain and the rest, the ‘one more mile’ and the ‘I’ll walk when I pass that point’. Never do I understand the spiritual life as much as I do when I run. From the sporadic, now I’m trying to make it the very regular, letting my mind and body both find pleasure in the day.

It is Passover tonight. A profound occasion for anyone who follows the One God. It’s the first holiday really, called by God himself. A fascinating thought, though not quite as fascinating past my bedtime.

I pray for peace and rest, and a fresh start tomorrow.