I will have faith, live and run simply

In the early 80's I used to watch a television sitcom called Mork and Mindy starring Robin Williams and Pam Dawber. Williams played the role of Mork, an alien from the planet Ork sent to earth to study human behaviour and he had an Orkian expletive he uttered when things went wrong  - Shazbot. This two syllable word was adopted by my mother and I and we used it as often as possible in conversations between us. Running in to work just before dawn on Monday after a few days of steady rain brought back the memory of this. I was struggling to maintain any form of adhesion to the earth, it was devilishly slippery and I found myself chuckling as I reflexively muttered shazbot after a particularly sharp slide. This is a word that hasn't passed my lips for at least 20 years. People had better pray it doesn't again soon.
I loved the show so much that I named one of my Bantam hens Mindy, I used to leave my bedroom window open for her because every afternoon she would fly into my room and lay her egg in my clothes cupboard.
As for running, these are my thoughts so far in 2016.
My regular commuting runs to and from work are the boilerplate of my fitness. This is where I will lay down the foundation and forge my running year. The route may vary little but it wont be boring because the skies and seasons will rotate and change around me and there is always comfort in liturgy.
Secondly, a few days ago I was watching Jacob Barnett, an autistic genius delivering a TED Talk where his message was, forget what you know, stop learning, begin thinking and start creating. His idea is that when we are able to stop structured learning it gives us the time and freedom to think instead and creativity flows from there. I like that and I'm going to try and apply it to running and life. Maybe we try and learn too much. I knew an ancient Jewish lady once. She had survived Auschwitz and yet had a deep and unshakable faith in God. I remember her saying to me once that we spend too much time trying to learn about God, we read endless books and listen to people who try to teach us who He is. It stifles us and puts Him in a box. The reality is, she said, is that God is a mystery and that is how we should approach him. As for me, she went on, I just believe, no more, no less. Simple. It had a huge impact on me and transformed my view of faith. So this is my new thing, I will plunge in and treat life and the running trails as a mystery to be enjoyed. I will have faith, live and run simply, I will think and I will create.

The almost gothic dawn on Monday

Just a hint of sunrise on the fence poles along the river path. Monday. 

Mist and mud. Wednesday

Footbridge in the mist. Wednesday.

Um, the crack of dawn. Wednesday.