Running in the Combs

You know when something becomes so natural and so much a part of your life, that you do not find it different or special anymore? For me, it's something that has become so routine that it's just part of life and not really something interesting to write about. For me, that was my daily Saturday morning running in the Combs of Fixin, with Leonie, Fred, Fred's husband, and a few of the other citizens of Fixin. It was always enjoyable and I loved that Saturday morning ritual almost as much as I enjoyed running on my own in the Combs. I just never really felt like I needed to write about it. It's like taking a shower, it comes as second nature and does not necessarily merit a blog post.

Of course, this past Saturday, I woke up bright and early with Leonie and together we headed up to Fred's house. Fred did not know I was coming to France, so when she saw me for the first time, she was so excited. Fred is Leonie's best friend in Fixin. All three of their children (Fred's three, and Leonie's three) have been about the same age, so they have taken part in many PTA {equivalent} meetings throughout the years. I am pretty sure Fred is the sole reason that L R is a runner, as a matter of fact. Of course, Leonie pulled her Achilles Tendon, and was out of commission from running. But unlike most people, this did not stop her from exercising all the same. She has taken up VTT (cross-country biking) in the meantime. But more on L R later.

The first thing Fred said to me after the obligatory Bissou was that she hoped my French was still in tact because she and I had a lot of discussing to do. Granted my speaking French is horrid, but I can understand French better than ever before. As we ran along the same trail we had run on 2 years ago, a stroll down memory lane came not from merely the path but also the great memories we spoke about. Fred is one of the most kind and optomistic French women I have ever met. She told me she was happy that my year was so wonderful, and that I had kept in touch so well with my French family (I think this was an indirect way of saying I was a good exchange student, but the other boy, Andrew did not keep in touch with his host family.) Of course, she admitted it was a shame that I did not get on well with the high school students, but all in all my host family, the traveling, and the love I developed for the country of France is far more important than that.

There were several things that Fred and I spoke about that really intrigued me. When she asked me how long it had been since I left France, I told her two years. She replied that it passed quickly, and really not much had happened in the mean time. I had to agree that things had not changed that much since the last time I was here. However, two years passing quickly? Hm. I thought about it, and came to the troubling realization that she was perfectly right. Two years since I had lived in France had passed in the blink of an eye. I can not believe that I am halfway through college already. I can not believe over 700 days have come and gone since the last time I was here. I have no regrets, and I feel I have truly lived up my college experience, but it slightly terrifies me when I consider time and my place within the constant swinging pendulum.

Running in the Combs is always a great relaxing thing for me. Even if L R and Fred managed to get on the subject of age, a topic I hate hearing about, more than I would have liked. One thing that made me angry was how Fred and L R kept talking about age holding them back from running and biking. Yet, even though I've run 3 half-marathons and 1 marathon, they continued to kick my butt running and biking. What might be a good excuse for me then? Ha.