Today my running feet were reunited with the Adelaide Parklands - to their, and my, great delight!
For non-Adelaide people, the Parklands are a broad band of natural land and gardens surrounding the square mile of Adelaide CBD. Listen to local radio for a week and you'll almost always hear something about the Parklands - whether they should be preserved or developed; how they should, or should not, be used by private enterprises for entertainment purposes, and so forth.
For my husband, who only lived in Adelaide a few years (definitely not a local!) the Parklands are the butt of many a joke - but for me, they're something which makes this city very special. The Parklands are full of space, peace and trees, things close to my heart.
So today I enjoyed jogging sweeping loops through the south and east Parklands. I heard Pulteney Grammar's alarms going off at 8.15 - tests, or tripped by someone? Not me, officer: I was running on the other side of South Terrace.
To my embarrassment, I nearly ran into the nearly-invisible two-strand wire fence along Greenhill Road - that'll teach me to check my heart rate monitor on the go.
I ended my run back to Gilles Street running the diagonal path from the corner of Fullarton and Greenhill Roads to South Terrace. This is a section I have run countless times. Some of those trees are like old friends, and it warmed my heart to see them and "catch up", as it were, on what's been happening in their lives. All seem to be thriving and I couldn't see gaps, indicating a fallen comrade.
Tomorrow morning I hope I'll be able to actually run: today's pace was a little slower than usual, having fought off a virus and been inactive in the car yesterday. But for today, the delight was in being reunited with one of my favourite places.
Bliss.
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