The first thing I am going to do when the snow is gone

I love running. I miss running. I strained my knees in junior high and ever since then, if I run in the cold my knees swell up to the size of large navel oranges. Depressing. I want to go running SO bad! I need to feel the burn in my legs. I need to feel my insanely small (size 7 1/2, seriously small) feet feeling out the uneven surface of the soil as they alight in the hills and valleys of the path I run. I am fleet and surefooted, I know that many people will snicker at this, but I am, and its something I am very proud of. My dad calls me a gazelle. No one else in my family can match a cow head on and anticipate her changes like I can. No one else can pace a sprinting calf, driving it to where it is safely contained in a dog pen. When I run, all the tension and anxiety comes out. The voices in my head are silenced and all the issues in my world slowly fade away until all I feel is the swing of my hips, the pounding of my feet against the soil matching the pounding in my chest, my knees absorbing the shock of the uneven terrain, and the steady pull of the muscles in my upper back and shoulders. For me, running is an all out escape. It proves that I am not a weakling, it tests my strength and endurance, I always try to 'go a little farther, dig a little deeper'. Its like fasting, its good for me and it submits my physical needs to the needs of my spirit. Take THAT natural man! The last few days I have had this image in my mind of a steep rocky mountain path. At the summit is a clear view of the Valley, wildflowers grow in abundance there and to the north there is a thickening expanse of trees. I see myself running up this mountain path, (Ok...its more like trudging, its really is too steep to consider it running) and then reaching the summit. I can feel the sun warming my body and hear the pounding of my heart in my ears. I sit on a rock, soaking up the sun loving the serenity around me, savoring the painful ache in my muscles. This feeling of total joy washes over me and a voice in my mind whispers 'I Love You'. There I sit, in my minds eye, a gentle breeze playing with the loose tendrils of my hair as I look at the place I love most in the entire world and I feel so blessed. I can't wait for winter to be over, I miss my alone time, my moments to connect with my Heavenly Father in peace. I miss the first rays of sun cresting the mountains and a flurry of birds singing starts up. I miss the mountain air the scent of rich earth and sweet grasses permeating the air like the sweetest perfume. Tee shirts, light sunburns (because I cant ever get a decent tan), driving to clear my head, picking myself bouquets of wildflowers, color...man, I miss color in my world. Yes, I am ready for spring. Not the nasty, icky, muddy part of spring, but the first day I can go out and run, then that image in my incredibly vivid imagination will become reality. That day is the day I disappear all day, no where to be seen, but soaking up the sun and loving every second of well cooked skin cells that come with it, and then, in that moment, I will be free from everything on my mind. And that right there is the happiest thing in my future :)