Running Down Memory Lane

I took advantage of the 40 degree weather on Wednesday to take a run outside. I left the kids with my mom and ran the streets I used to run when I was a kid. I used to run them much faster. Running through the old neighborhood turned out to be a good distraction from the lack of oxygen I was experiencing.

I ran past the corner we used to hang out at night, we were hooligans, remembering the bat that used to circle the street lamp. Then I made my way past the house where Lisa used to live: looks like the people living there now don't use the pool. We were in that pool a lot during summer. Sometimes we'd just show up there on really hot days and hope Lisa would invite us to swim. I felt guilty about that sometimes. We were kids, but we were old enough to ask her properly. Looking back on it now, I feel worse.

I ran near the area where my friend Lisa (a different one) used to live, her old house is gone now, some giant houses took over her old street. It's weird to think the house we spent a lot of time at is gone now. We had a lot of fun there. I'll always remember that.

I also went past Mike's house, he moved there later in high school so we didn't hang out there as much as his older house a few blocks away. His Apple IIc was long gone before he moved into that house, but he did have a pool table. I was never very good at pool (billiards, whatever), I often sent the cue ball in the pocket, usually when it would lose the game for me.

Passing my mom's house, I turned down the street my third grade teacher lived. She may still live there now, for that matter. To be honest, I'm not sure if she is still alive. I don't want to sound mean, but I don't know how old she was back then. Everyone looked old to me back then. If someone had gray hair, they were old to me. I have some gray hair now, and I'm only 38. No wonder my kids think I'm old. I'm really not!

I looped around the streets where my teacher lived (lives?) and headed back home. A lot of new houses were going up as old ones are torn down. I figure by the time my kids are my age, I may not recognize the neighborhood.