Sunny and High (a/k/a Spring forward- NOT) (a/k/a Spring in my Step!)

What a day!

This morning started out like most Mondays- getting school bags back in order, lunches made, this week- getting the swim kit together, dogs walked, etc.  Things were going well, until we get to drop off at school and it’s a ghost town.  Kevin and I look at each other.  It’s definitely Monday, but it might not be daylight savings time… yet.

You may not know this, but different parts of the world start daylight savings time at different times.  The US has the longest period of DST, which I and other sun worshippers appreciate.  You guys have been enjoying the sun and the warm weather for what, a week now?  Turkey has a shorter period of DST.  Due to a quickly read and deleted email, He-who-shall-not-be-named thought it started last night.  It did not.  It starts next week.  So…. faced with an hour before school, we hit Starbucks.

As you can see, despite our unnecessarily early start, the day was looking up – sunny, clear and caffeinated.  After drop off and my daily house cleaning session, I decided TODAY WAS THE DAY.  Today, I would run outside.  Today, I would run in shorts.  God help us all. 

As I may have mentioned, Ankara is hilly and Muslim.  So it was with some trepidation that I headed out the door and uphill partially clothed.  Up hill and up hill and up hill I went.  Finally cresting that first damn hill a mile or so later, I stopped to take a breather and this picture. 

It’s odd to be running in shorts when a giant snow- covered mountain looms nearby.  Needless to say, what goes up must come down and after a few more uphills, I managed to roll home down the hills and feel quite accomplished.  And while I got dirty looks from some women and jeers from some men, most everyone was like me – thrilled to be outside in the sun.

I celebrated my inaugural run with a book on the back porch in the sun.  Ankara hit 61°F today- I can get used to that.  Nothing like months of snow and ice to make you truly appreciate the start of Spring (and the good use of an extra hour of time).