My Leaf's Purpose

A while back, I can’t quite recall when exactly, I heard/read somewhere that if you catch a falling autumn leaf in the air before it touches the ground it is a sign of good luck.  I fell in love with that idea.  The thought of this leaf, with a lifespan of one single season having never touched the ground - will never-ever touch the ground - because I caught it in my hand.

For all I know I may have made this up in my own head or in a dream and accepted it as a real thing.  When I shared this superstition with the children with whom I ran through the forest (a perk of my job helping coordinate running programs at the YMCA), they asked, “Who said that?”  I couldn’t recall, but it didn’t matter.  We started turning our faces up to the trees, awaiting the random flutter of a yellow, crispy leaf to chase.  

This leaf we sought had never been touched, altered or interfered with by our modern, tech-obsessed world.  This leaf that  likely interacted with ladybugs, birds and other flying beings, but lived entirely separate from our terrestrial reality.  It turned it's broad surface toward the sun, and was later washed by the spring rain.  Battered by the wind, it clung to the tree with a strong and flexible stem along with it's green, chorophyll-fortified brethren.

Now weakened by the shorter, cooler days of the season's change and facing the inevitable fall to the ground  -- if caught it in the air by one of us, we might somehow save this innocent leaf from corruption!  It could remain a pure element of the natural canopy from which it tumbled.  Immortality?

Yet, that leaf did serve it’s life purpose.  Aiming it’s broad face toward the sun's warmth, it transformed solar energy into food for it’s mother tree.  Fruit and seeds were nourished by this energy to guarantee generations of trees to come.  And critters sheltered within and beneath for the spring and summer months.

Then the days get shorter.  Once these leaves wither and drop into our world below, who knows what might come of them?  Someone may rake, bag and send them to the dump.  Or maybe they all are doomed to be stomped by boots, rolled over by big rubber tires and turned into pulp.  Then mixed with litter and road run-off to be forgotten.  Hopefully they land in the soil from which the roots grow and become one again.

Regardless of the truth (or absolute nuttiness) of this superstition, we - the children and I, spent the next hour dashing side-to-side, on-and-off the trail, to try to snatch these brittle beings before they touched the earth.  In almost all cases we failed.  And we nearly flew off of steep banks or ran head-on into trees in our desperate efforts. We debated whether it was bad luck to shake the tree first to loosen leaves…and decided that  it would, indeed, be cheating.

At the end of the run I had one trophy, fallen from a maple, that practically jumped into my fist.  Spencer had nimbly nabbed a small handful of various sizes and colors.   Alisa had tried SO hard, zigzagging at every possible target, but she didn’t catch a single fluttering leaf the whole time.  As we boarded the vans I offered Alisa my prized leaf to take home.  She declined.  It wasn’t the same if the leaf touched another hand before your own.  I completely understood.

Since then I keep wondering if I just made up that whole “good luck” thing in my mind or in a dream.  But it doesn’t really matter.  We all could use a little hope, good luck and magic to make it through life.  And just maybe there is more to a leaf’s life purpose than we know.

To Wear or Not to Wear...Underwear?

This all started years ago.  Like any lifetime runner, actually like ANY runner, I love to recruit converts to our sport.  I had photocopied a walk-to-run program from a book to share with a curious fellow pre-school mom.  After six weeks or so she came up to me excited to share that she was running miles at a time and feeling great!  She had even convinced some friends to join her and she now had a real-live running group.   Then...she scooted up close to me and half-whispered, “Can I ask you a question?”  I nodded and waited.  She looked around to make sure that nobody was close enough to hear.  “Do you wear underwear when you run?”

“Yeah!” I answered without hesitation, not at all taken aback by the question.

She went on, “Well…then why do running shorts come with built-in briefs if you are supposed to wear underwear, too?” 

Have you ever had one of those moments when a question or idea just smacks you in the face and changes your perspective forever?  BAM!!  This was one of those moments for me. A palm-smack right to the forehead.

“Good point,” I stammered, “I haven’t ever really thought about it…”  She looked disappointed in my answer.  She was sure there was a TRUTH out there that only real runners knew, and I was supposed invite her into this exclusive club by sharing the insider information.  Watching her face go slack, I felt so ignorant and unworthy of my “mentor” status.

After that day I continued donning my undergarments, whether I was running or not, because that was what I had done my whole life.  However my husband, who is a high mileage trail runner, began to discard underwear completely.  He had fallen in love with compression gear and decided “Why wear underwear when there is cozy spandex?”  No matter if he is dressing for work complete with jacket and tie, or for a 3-hour run in the rain, the first item of clothing he puts on is a stretchy short or half-tight.  He sits on the chair and squeezes his muscles, much like sausage into its casing, into the black spandex container.

Over the years I have occasionally brought this subject up on long runs with friends.  I have been surprised by the range of answers and reasons that bubble up.  Mary dislikes briefs so much that she won’t even wear running shorts that include briefs - she’s all about smooth running tights with no creeping or binding, even in the summer.  Tammy agrees and adds, “For the record, there is ruthless mockery when ptl's (panty lines) are spotted in my group.”

Deb swears by finding the RIGHT underwear for running - high quality with no seams or fancy trim.  Denise likes a layer between herself and her tights, but is fine with the coverage the built-in brief that running shorts provide.  Mark prefers a lycra under-layer, even with shorts that have briefs, and avoids cotton because of the dreaded chafe risk.  Carol is all about business - tighty-whiteys at all times.

Here is a summary of my informal, non-scientific poll (of people I wasn’t too embarrassed to ask):

• ·         Some folks’ number one concern is panty-line with tights, yet others regard comfort as most important, panty-line or not.   (By “Some folks” I mean some women)

•          Most men like to go free and easy when it comes to tights.  They don’t claim that it has anything to do with panty-line.

•          A slight majority of men and women leave the undies at home when wearing shorts with built-in briefs.

•          Anything that chafes during a run, undergarment or not, gets donated to a local charity.

Apparently there is no one TRUTH to the question.  Going Commando appears to be a matter of personal preference.  People choose what works for them, or like me, they do what they do because that is what they have always done.  So…to wear or not to wear underwear? Whether you are a newbie runner or an old timer with thousands of miles under your feet, what you are wearing under your racing shorts and tights is entirely up to you!