Better bonus

The moon has been the shape of a fingernail clipping the past three mornings. The first it was blurred by clouds covering it. The second morning the clouds surrounded it but stayed their distance. This morning it was brilliant against a black sky with no clouds in sight. It could be called all the same adjective used in those tooth whitening commercials describing how your teeth will be so much cleaner and brighter. I'm not sure the moon was any whiter or brighter or if the sky was darker without the clouds, but I've noticed the moon's presence each morning and the subtle changes from day to day.

I've also noticed there hasn't been anyone at the community pool during the early mornings all this week. There were a few people swimming at that early hour as I ran past a few weeks ago. That hasn't been the case this week. The pool has been a solid sheet of blue without a ripple running through it. It's grown as quiet and still as the rest of the neighborhood.

I started out this week determined to run the same short distance every morning. I tried to talk myself out of it yesterday and today but didn't and ran them just the same. I feel better about doing it than if I had managed to convince myself otherwise. I didn't realize I would be getting that image of the motionless sheet of blue pool water or the gleaming brilliant white of the moon to think about later. They seem such simple things, but coupled with knowing I also achieved what I originally set out to do somehow makes them that much more special.

It's almost like getting a bigger, better bonus.
TT