Tuesday, June 17, 2008

SOMETIMES IT "PAYS" TO RUN SLOW.

I know I've mentioned before that I often find money, mostly change, when I'm out running in the morning. There could be many reasons why people lose money at night, the main one being when they drop it, whether they know it or not, the darkness makes it impossible to find. So its a perfect opportunity for anyone out bright and early to make a windfall.

Today was another one of those days: I found a $5 bill just laying in the grass. Whoa, put on the brakes, back up, and snatch that up right away. I even took a few extra seconds to look around the area and in the nearby bushes to see if there was any more floating around, but no such luck.

I'm pretty sure if I was a speedier runner, I might not see something like that as easily. So I have an advantage there. My secret hope is to find a $100 just laying there, waiting for an opportunist like me to come along.

Today was also the day to again extend the morning run up to 45 minutes. I am finding it easier and easier to do that, and enjoying it more because of that. I rarely have to stop and catch my breath any more, and usually keep in mind when the next traffic stop will allow a break if it becomes necessary.

I headed out to the zoo park and noticed there were a few mature trees that had come down from the last storm. Running back, I cut through the neighborhoods and saw there were branches down everywhere. I couldn't tell if it was from the Saturday night storm or all the wind we had yesterday. Either way, I found it odd that people would just let big branches lay across their front steps for any length of time, something small enough to move themselves, but too big to really get around easily. In that neighborhood though, there doesn't appear to be much pride in ownership, because I doubt there is much ownership of homes in that area. You can definitely compare the difference with all the junk in the yards, trash in the streets, and today branches everywhere. No one wants to take any responsibility for cleaning up their neighborhood. That's someone else's job.

And it was with luck when I took another detour to avoid some of the busier traffic areas where I came upon the $5. Lucky me today!

11 comments:

Flo said...

Woo Hoo!!! I love finding money, even if it's only a few cents. Congrats on the great run too.

Ann (bunnygirl) said...

Yay on finding money! So whatcha gonna buy?

Lily on the Road said...

Wow, it was your lucky day!

If you've been having the same kind of storms we've been experiencing, maybe people just haven't had the time to clear up all the debris...I know that my place looks a little scruffy right now with all the tree limbs down and all...

BTW, good job on your run!!!!

Marcy said...

Whoooaaa chica! I'll have to start running with you ;-)

M*J*C said...

What a great morning! You gotta love finding a $5 bill, especially with the gas prices!

E said...

Wow! $5 is a great find!

Anne said...

Dang, I once found a quarter and thought I'd struck gold. Maybe it's time for me to slow down too and scout rundown neighborhoods.

Christie said...

Maybe next time you'll find a winning lottery ticket.

chia said...

It's a trash heap around here too.

We should do a downtown long run early on a saturday morning... I bet collectively we'd find at least $100 if we rise before the bums.

Bill Carter said...

Hi Vickie

Congrats on your great 5k! I think that is an excellent time for anybody and know that you have very high standards for yourself, but... give yourself a little credit this time.

Hope all is well and good luck with the running.

Unknown said...

I have never even once found money while running, much less a $5. Nice find. :)