Get out of your rut (if you're in one)

Sometimes I get in a rut when I run.  There is something nice about being in a rut, I think.  You don't have to make decisions, you see the same things day after day, it's fun to see them change throughout the seasons and you get to know the other people in the same

rut as you.  It's kind of nice.

There are other times when I go off the beaten path.  Those times usually end up better in the end, but it's hard to make the decision to get out of my rut.  Fortunately, yesterday I made the decision.  Sometimes I run on designated paths (intended for tractors, bikes, motorcycles and horses.  I'm not sure why they spelled out horses cavalli on the sign.  Maybe they didn't have the clip art?).  Other times I run through fields, along creeks, up hills, down hills and over little bridges.  Yesterday I decided to run to Liedolo.  I'd driven through it the night before and I liked how it felt, so I thought I might like it even more in my running shoes. I knew how to get there, but it meant running on the big roads.  By big, I guess I mean 'bigger'.  A little more traffic (tractor traffic), a few more houses and the possibility of some dogs that I hadn't yet met.  But, I did it.

 
The town ended up being 3.25 miles from where I was staying.  Perfect.  As I turned around to run back I noticed a little gravel road.  I knew it wouldn't get me home, but I had to check it out.  A little further down the road there was an electric box or something like that in a chain link fence.  But on the fence there was a little arrow with trincee 13-15.  The arrow pointed up a tiny dirt trail (it seemed like the kind of trail bad kids
would have made, instead of a manicured path) up a REALLY steep hill and into a really thick forest. I had no idea what trincee meant and kind of thought it might lead to more of these little electric boxes in chain link fences, but something made me want to go up this big hill.  These days, I seem to have enough courage that if there's no sign that says proprieta privata, I go!!  So, up I went.  And up and up and up.
 
The forest was dark and kind of cold and a little spooky, I'd say.  Then I saw a little cave.  It didn't say proprieta privata, but this time I wasn't quite as courageous and I didn't go in.  Then I noticed a sign that said  la prima guerra mondiale (WWI) and some other stuff I didn't understand right away. I kept running up the path and thinking about this sign and trying to figure out what it meant (I don't take my dictionary running.  In fact, I seldom take it anywhere anymore!)  There were more caves and little trails that seemed like trenches three-feet deep that went on and on. Aha!  Trenches....trincee.....that's how I'm learning
Italian.  It takes me awhile, but eventually I make a connection.  I was pretty sure now that these were leftover trenches from WWI.  The best part? There was no entrance fee and no gate and I didn't see anyone the whole time I was there.  It was just me and some cool caves and some amazing trenches that were dug a long, long time ago.  And the only reason I discovered these trenches (REALLY deep ruts, let's say) is because I got out of my own. And instead of taking the well-worn paths that I take everyday, I went in a different direction.  And when I reached the top I was excited to run back down and see it all again.  And somewhere on my way down, I'd found enough courage to go inside the same cave I was afraid of on my way up.  And it was worth it.

"Do not go where the path may lead.  Go instead where there is no path and leave a trail." 
Ralph Waldo Emerson