I stepped onto the porch of our building, breathing warm air in to my thinly covered hands. Nippy, but not too bad. I finished my stretching routine and began my warm-up walk. Everything was so calm. No cars, no wind, just a hint of light in the eastern sky. Dark everwhere else. I started running with my footfalls breaking the silent morning. I passed the first runner. I returned her smile with one of my own, proudly completmenting each other on making it out of bed and getting out to run. A mile later, another runner, this time it was a nod of acknowledgement.
As I ran, the sky got lighter, the air around me, warmer and more and more people made their way to work. I passed several, looking at them the same as I did to the others. I never connected like I did with the runners. There was just something underlyingly cool about being out before everyone else.
