Fish & Chips

I like that statement. Fish & Chips. I'm not sure why. I think it's mixin' things up a little. I mean, they say you can't have your cake and eat it too. But - you can have your fish and your chips. Kinda nice if you ask me. Who woulda thought? Truly, you can also have chowder and a side caesar with salmon - or prawns. Or if you're just in the mood for a coffee or an ice cream. . . And there's a place across the street that sells bubble tea. I'm totally laughing at myself.

I went there today. The Fish & Chips place in the picture. (I messed with the picture in photo shop, but it sorta looks like that.) I actually go there many days in the week. I hang out there so much I know the names of the seagulIs that hang out there - yes, they have names and are distinct because they (3) only have one leg. I usually park there to run, or I leave home and run by there. But today, alas, there weren't enough miles to be had, so I took myself out to eat. I figured fish and chips would add some good carbs - if you translate the french fries into potatoes, and the fish would give me some healthy fish oils - and I even thought a little extra grease might be good to store up for my long run on Sunday. I'm not sure what all that vinegar I added will do, but I'm sure all those packets of salt I sprinkled on will be absorbed into my system, and I'll find them on my face after the run Sunday. It's all good.

I noticed the cruise ship is back today. There are three of them at times in the summer - they only serve this corner of the world in the summertime. I wish I could convey the true size of this thing and how it makes me feel to be near it. I see it early Sunday mornings when it comes into the bay. It's kind of an awesome sight: A quiet morning at the crack of dawn, not a soul around, the city not really awake yet - and traveling silently through the water is this gargantuous boat with a whole world aboard. I started timing my runs so I could reach the point where it goes nearest the shore right as it was passing. This boat is so big it dwarfs even the container ships that come into port. It's amazing to stop in the middle of a run, and just stand there in it's presence as it passes stealthily. It makes you feel small in a way, but not in an insignificant sort of way. It makes you realize there's a whole world out there with people and places, and you're a part of it. Typically I'm not the cruise ship type (one has only to peruse the photos of my blog and see my lovely camper to know this). I don't like the idea of being trapped on a boat without my freedom, and I don't like the excess, the gluttony and waste. I'm sure if I was on the boat, I'd drink lots of cocktails, run lots of laps, and find many ways to amuse myself, but I usually choose other vacation options.

I still enjoy watching the ship, though, and just wondering . . . where did they all come from? where all they all going? Imagine the stories they'd all have to tell - a day in the life of every single passenger aboard. I think sometimes in life I'm too judgemental, and somehow this cruise ship thing teaches me to accept all of these people and appreciate them for who they are, what they do, and where they're going. We're all on this planet together, we might as well all get along and make the best of it.

I think about all of the people on the boat, and I think about all of the people out in blogland. Have you ever taken a globe or a map and drawn lines from home to the locations of the people you blog with - or at least the blogs you read? It's an amazing thing - the connectedness of it all. What the people are doing on the other side of the city, the country, the other end of the continent, the other side of the planet . . . and I truly don't know about those people out there in the universe. Maybe they have a higher form of blogging and running.

I'm looking forward to my run this weekend - partly for me - just to run - but also to see people from here and there and everywhere and to have the privilege to run with them all.

I wish a great weekend to runners out there on the roads and trails!