Encounters with
the natural world.

12 weeks out from a marathon, we would meet at 7 p.m. every Tuesday night at the trailhead for 9-11 miles of interval speed work. This trail stretched a good 10 miles uninterrupted by road crossings and enclosed by trees and a meadow–one of the nicest places to run in the city.

I thought rice had spilled on my kitchen floor. I bent down to pick it up and realized it was moving…. And there were many wiggling grains inching across my tiles. I’ll admit I squealed in disgust. I couldn’t fathom where they came from. I began to squish them in paper towel and can still feel them bursting between my fingers 15 years later and still shiver with the same repulsion. It wasn’t until the exterminator came that I learned that a fly had laid eggs in my trash can and the little, white, wiggle grains were maggots.