MICHIGAN: 4 Mile Run (AA)

PLYMOUTH, Mich. -- Took a run with Sheri out in the drizzle, wind and brisk fall air. It was refreshing as any run, taking a nice easy pace on a little loop course. Just the thing after four days off. Rehab seems to be working. I'm hoping just another week or so of this bullcrap and then get back on some good 20-30 mile weeks.

The fall is absolutely amazing. I now must agree with all the Angelinos who wax sentimental about "the seasons." Indeed, with a bite in the air, vivid autumn colors on every other tree and leaves blowing around as you round the corner there's a deeply calm feeling created that is hard to dismiss. It's fundamental to those from here, a simple acknowledgement of the pleasure a human being can take in our ability to weather change and adapt to our surroundings. Trouble is coming with the winter. The environment will become hostile, impossible to survive in. But from the safety of a modest jacket or hooded sweatshirt, we retain warmth and keep going. It's the kind of easy example that your brain relates to grand concepts like success, durability or even immortality.

But beyond all this. Better than the sweatshirt, the colors, football, October baseball or any other nicety of this season in Michigan is the cinnamon and sugar doughnut with a cup of hot cider served by a silver-haired old bitty in a wood plank shack stocked with shelves of pumpkin butter, Halloween-themed nylon flags and apples of every size and variety. And that smell of a smoky wood-fueled stove rocks.

Off to eat some pizza Paul and Sheri whipped up and then enjoy Game 2 of the Magical Season WS. Let's go, Tigs!