skirt in the suburbs-Part 1: Automobiles

"Jaywalking" or "Jayrunning" in the suburbs is not a good idea. It does not matter if you are wearing pants, a skirt, or a clown suit. In the suburbs, cars rule and pedestrians drool...as they will most often land in a pile of mud. I have definitely noticed that the sidewalks and dirt paths in Northern Jersey are huge upgrade from the routes I took during my random Midwest suburban town runs. Around here, I probably wont be attacked by a large dog, cow, or pickup-truck. School bus, maybe, but I probably have a higher chance of tripping on uneven pavement or crashing into a small child on a tricycle.

My new found running partnership with automobiles is very fascinating. The smaller neighborhood streets are scarce of moving vehicles but there are always parked ones, big lumps of metal just taking up space. Most of the time, I try to imagine they are trees.

Sometimes I wonder why a vehicle is parked in that specific place at that specific time, and from sheer running boredom...
I create stories about the people who depend on these vehicles for their livelihood.
I imagine the blue minivan is parked on the street in front of an empty driveway at 8AM because the mother who leads the carpool finds it easier to get out in the morning from street parking. This mother spends so much time dragging her kids out of bed while making breakfast and planning the school fundraiser, that the thought of backing out of her driveway blindly into traffic gives her a migraine. I imagine that the black BMW with leather seats is in the driveway at 12PM because the Doctor that drives it...comes home to have lunch with his wife every day. He is 85 and still sees patients, he has been having lunch with his wife everyday for 60 years. I imagine the old sedan parked crookedly in a driveway at 5PM, is driven by that kid that still lives at home and struggles with a full-time job and a full schedule of classes, the car is there because he has exactly five minutes to change out of his uniform and rush to evening classes at the local community college. Finally, I imagine the cars that just sit in the driveways and on the streets all day and night, rarely moving...the cars that are a permanent part of the scenery. They are no longer needed and aren't able to get beyond the block unless someone is inspired to move them.

People are like cars. Some people take the most convenient route, some people go out of their way for others, some people rush from here to there, and some people just sit...and rarely leave their block.

I am a car on the main road, always moving, always going somewhere in a hurry with a purpose. Pushing my way through traffic, sometimes driving through a red light or swerving around a pedestrian.

Looking at the variety of cars while I run helps me remember - in life, it is important to slow down and stop in the right place at the right time. Its also important to always be aware of your surroundings, because you never know when someone will swerve around the corner and force you into the nearest puddle...skirt and all.