The Magic of the Moment

[anarchist_nomad]

I follow the Moskva
Down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change.
An August summer night...

—The Scorpions

My evening had an uncanny resemblance to the 1990 song Wind of Change, referenced above. Having been at LomCon-16 for the past seven days, I have not worked out in a week. My darling miss_amaranth and I went for a swim right before I left to catch my flight... but then nothing since.

I rectified that this evening. On this August summer night, I went for a 10K run that started in Gorky Park and followed the Moskva along its embankment, out and then back.

I had been trying to figure out where in Moscow I could go for a run, and Gorky Park was what I finally settled on, partly after serendipitously finding this article in the New York Times on Monday. This turned out to have been an excellent choice... for several reasons!

For example, the Moscow Running Club meets three times weekly in the park and goes for a run. So there are 1K, 3K, 5K, and 10K routes already marked out, including signs to indicate when one should turn around for each distance. That made the logistics of the run quite easy.

Also, the run along the Moskva embankment was absolutely lovely! I don't usually run linearly, going out for the first half and coming back the same way in the second. I normally prefer a circular run, to continually have new scenery during the run. In this case, however, I was willing to make an exception. The park and the river was such spectacular scenery. There were people out for a stroll, other runners, cyclists, skaters... and riverboats. What a fantastic environment! Turns out, most of the boats for the river cruises are faster than me... but only just!

My performance on the run was unremarkable. I covered 10 km in 56:40, which is pretty average for me. When I say "unremarkable", I mean just that -- it was neither particularly fast nor particularly slow. Since I have not exercised in a week and had been walking around all day, I suppose that average is better than I might have expected.

There is also another aspect worth noting about tonight's run. It pertains to just being able to run through Gorky Park and alongside the Moskva. As a US-American citizen, I am well aware that this would not have been possible in the not-so-distant past... within my living memory. Somewhat boggles the mind to think about it. And that's where the song by The Scorpions comes in again.

I've much more to share about this trip, but methinks that will have to wait. I should go to bed now, to be fresh and rested for another day of sightseeing in the morning. So, dear friends, I will leave you for now, signing off with this self-portrait taken not long after tonight's workout, at one of the illuminated fountains in Gorky Park:

Listening to the wind of change...

(click for full-sized version)

Comments

Re: Looking good!

[blaisepascal]

Joseph's heading to England in October? Or is Miss Amaranth heading to the states in October?

Apparently, amaranth is also called 'love-lies-bleeding' (for some species of amaranth).

Re: Looking good!

[anarchist-nomad.livejournal.com]

Whilst the former would also be nice, in this case the latter is correct. The lovely miss_amaranth will be joining us at the Sooper Sekrit gathering this year.

Given the shared gatekeeping responsibility for the P**T*** community, I'm one of the first to speak out against the practice of brining one's "partner of the year" along. As you know, attending once potentially makes you a life member. So folks who have a different partner each year -- often non-Pagan -- and bring them all along, are potentially making problems for us by not using their invite powers wisely. (Thankfully, this has not created any issues for us thus far)

When cheshcat and I got together, waaaaaaay back when, she did not bring me along to P**T*** until the third time that she went. In that time, we went to Summer festivals, like FSG and Starwood. However, she explained that P**T*** was more serious, and for more dedicated Pagans. I accepted this and there was no problem. It was only after we had been together for several years and I had been working ritual during that time that she brought me along. Similarly, miss_amaranth and I have now been together for nearly four years... and she has been an active part of our coven for almost three years. So it seems an appropriate time to invite her along.

She is rather looking forward to experiencing P**T*** at last. I hope you will be coming along this year and can meet her, my friend!

Re: Looking good!

[blaisepascal]

I'm waiting to be invited, but assuming I am, I plan to be there.

Re: Looking good!

[anarchist-nomad.livejournal.com]

Fair enough! As you can see from yesterday's e-mail to the discussion list (from our current president, entitled "Yo, P****o!"), the registration forms have indeed gone out. So you should have yours very soon! (As should we, for that matter...)

Thirty-nine more days! Wahoo!