Sunday, January 6,
2013
This past week, I read an incredible book called Born To Run. Author Christopher McDougall tells an interesting
tale of the Tarahumara Indians of Mexico and their amazing, long distance
running skills. A sportswriter,
McDougall also talks about popular American ultrarunners and what happens when
these two groups race.
I’m not a runner. I
have running shoes, running attire, and a nice set of white ear buds that
attach to my iPod in the event I decide to run.
I’m a wannabe. Born to Run made me wish I had an
ultrarunner’s talent and determination.
This Sunday, we had an ultrarunner for dinner: Mr. T., his wife, Mrs. T and their four boys. The T. family boys range in age from 5 to 18,
so I wasn’t quite sure how to entertain them.
I papered the dining table and put out markers and pens for doodling,
but to my surprise, the boys were much more entertained with Kate’s old Disney
princess dress ups. I’m still kicking
myself for not having taken a picture of their 11-year old boy squeezed into a
pink Sleeping beauty dress, gold satin gloves, pink heeled shoes, and “Space Specs.” It was nice to see those dusty old dressed
used again. I was just about to pass
them along to a younger family with little girls.
Not knowing what a family of four growing boys would
consume, I probably overcooked a bit. I
served Swiss Chicken, sweet potato casserole, corn pudding, spinach salad, parmesan
rolls, and carrots & dip. Mrs. T.
brought a delicious chocolate pudding dessert made with a nut crust on bottom
and layers of cream cheese, chocolate pudding, and whipped cream with chocolate
shavings on top.
With Born to Run
on my brain, I peppered Mr. T. about ultrarunners. He was familiar with the book and participated
in the Leadville Trail 100 a few years ago.
I appreciated his tolerance to all my ignorant questions. Given Mr. T's experienced opinion, I have now
reconsidered running barefoot like the Tarahumara Indians do.
At dinner, we learned that we have more in common with Mr. and Mrs. T.
than we realized. Mr. T. and I grew up
not far from each other in suburbs of Washington, D.C., we all attended BYU (except
for Ryan, of course), and Ryan and Mr. T. are both small business owners in
different medical fields.
When it was time to leave, we took our traditional picture
on the stairs with the T. Family. I
admit I felt a certain excitement and relief knowing I had completed my 52
Friends for Dinner project. It’s because
of wonderful people like the T. Family that I wish I had the energy and
financial resources to keep going.
But I don’t.
It’s time to put the pots and pans away and take on another
project.
Maybe I’ll start
running….
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