Stare it Down

I won’t bore you with more ramblings about my insomnia, but suffice to say, it was one of those nights.  Getting up at 2:00 AM on occasion and not being able to get back to sleep does not qualify as tragedy when you’ve experienced it, on and off, since the age of 12. 

By 4:00 I had already decided to take my walk, but wanted to go to the trail and thought I should push it to 4:30 at least.  So off we went at 4:30, and wouldn’t you know it, yet ANOTHER festival (Food and Wine) is in the works, so the park was shut off at the entrance, and will be until May 1.  So I drove to the footbridge at Zilker Park, and, for the first time in memory, the cavernous parking lot was completely empty.  Not only did that give me a little anxiety about being completely alone on the trail (even with Banks), but I thought it might put my car in a vulnerable spot as well.  So we turned back toward Auditorium Shores, and parked at the RunTexas right across the street.  At least this had the benefit of eating up about 15 minutes, and we hit the trail at a more civilized 4:47.

A friendly young woman was already out setting up the Food and Wine Festival.  This thing is going to be huge.  They’re not just putting up tents, there‘s heavy equipment out there and they’re actually building things.  She mentioned a few celebrity chefs who are going to be there, including some from Top Chef.  She also mentioned that a drunk guy had just entered the trail about 20 minutes before.  “He’s moving slow and seems pretty impaired, so I don’t think you’re in any danger.”  I wavered for a couple of seconds before deciding that even if I could outrun a drunk, being berated or even stared down by a strange and scary guy was not a great way to start my day.  So Banks and I crossed over the 1^st St. Bridge, then back, then took Riverside all the way to Lamar, doubled back, went back and forth over the bridge again, and finally hit the trail. The ache in my knees reminded me that I had done this just six hours before.  I went on instinct alone, since there was no way to keep track of the distance, and when we returned to the car, I saw that I owed the clock 12 minutes.  I’ll take Banks for a potty walk after dinner.

You can fight insomnia, you can give into it, you can let it dangle you at the end of a string.  On your best days, you stare it down.