Getting High

Should you ever find yourself in Johnson City, Tennessee on business (and I hope you don't), have 3 hours until sundown and fancy yourself a runner, might I suggest heading up to Carver's Gap at the TN-NC state line and running the trail up to Round Bald and Jane Bald. Warning: you may breathe hard. There were about six more balds (clear mountaintops with low brush and fantastic views) in the row that began with Round and Jane. I ran out of time and oxygen. Mostly oxygen.

A Good Run Considering I Had One Foot In My Mouth

I just went on a gorgeous, springtime run around the campus of Vanderbilt. In between the waves of the university's shuttles exhaust (All the routes are color coordinated. I particularly like that the green one had the thickest, brownest exhaust), I caught a few whiffs of some of the blooming trees and flowers dotting the lawns and beds. What a beautiful and larger-than-I-remember place. As a kid, it seemed like the entire campus was made up of a football stadium, a hospital and the building where you took the ACT.

As I approached Kirkland Hall, the main administrative building, who should be climbing out of an SUV right in front of me but former US Congressman from the Ninth District of Tennessee, Harold Ford, Jr? Now, please ignore that it takes a real geek to recognize a former Congressman just as I forgot that he is now an adjunct professor at that fine institution, 'cause this is what I said, "Hey! Junior! You're out of your territory! Good to see you. I'm from Memphis!"

Unamused, his deadpan response: "This is my territory."

It wasn't until about 1/2 mile up the road that I recalled what he was doing with his time these days. Oh well, the good news is that he won't remember me the next time I see him. The bad news is that things like this eat at me.