Where the Miles Hang

Today I drove from my small hometown in Eastern Oregon back to the city of Portland. It is a kind of desolate empty drive through open country. It’s a trip I have taken many times, and every time I stop and look at this amazing shoe tree, which stands along the side of the road miles away from any towns or homes.  A shoetree is a tree where people and come and hang their old shoes like Christmas tree ornaments on the branches.  Everyone knows of the shoetree, and anyone that you talk to will mostly like say that this tree is for people less fortunate who can’t afford to buy shoes.

Their answers don’t make any sense to me. Personally I think this shoetree is for the children of my small town, who grow and change, and then leave. I think the shoes they leave behind are symbols of the lives we all have led, the places we have gone, and the hope that we can continue to travel.  In a way this tree is a little sad. People usually leave their shoes here on their way out of town. There is no future for anyone out here. It is too small, and too poor to support most dreams. These shoes serve as a reminder to everyone  that they too can leave their shoes behind and travel outside county lines. 

Lately I have been thinking a lot about why I run. Why does anyone run? Do we run to try and escape ourselves, our problems, or our lives?  Is it even about the escape? It doesn’t make any sense but somehow I feel like if I run just one more mile, one more stretch, and get just a little closer to the horizon than life is less heavy.

Summary 12/27/2010
1 mile.....(BUT today is my intense yoga class)