...at 9AM on a Sunday morning:
1) A guy in sweat pants, newish running shoes, watch cap, and a new-looking Bears Super Bowl championship leather jacket (yes, with the '86 date on the sleeve) walking/jogging around, while his little girl rode her pink bike (complete with training wheels) next to him, or ahead of him, or occasionally to catch up to him after she'd taken a break to consume some hydration fluid (which was clearly part of the whole attraction of being there). Sometimes she'd zoom off across the field, too. Cute stuff-- dude must have been hotter than hell in that jacket, though, since it wasn't terribly cold outside.
2) Not long after, a mom came to walk her laps while her daughter played on the bleachers or shot around on her pink scooter. This one liked playing on the Astroturf so she could see what kinds of patterns the wheels made in the frost as she swerved. Also cute-- I was glad that no field maintenance folk showed up to tell the girls to stop playing, though I can imagine that wheels don't do the track or the field any favours.
3) A guy all dressed up in Rocky-wear-lite (layers of cotton, including baggy shorts over tights) walking one lap and taking care to hork up what looked from a distance like half a lungful of crap onto the field before adjusting his watch cap to the right rugged angle and heading elsewhere. Charming.
3) Most bizarre sight by far: a well-dressed couple came strolling onto the track, arm in arm, chatting, carrying coffees, and proceeded to meander around about 4 times. He was in jeans, puffy jacket, and dress shoes; she wore a skirt or dress, flared overcoat, chunky heels, and carried a large handbag. When they left, they got into a parked car just outside the field and drove off, still with coffees etc. (Had I been talking to someone at this point, I might have been rendered speechless.) Even if they were killing time before heading elsewhere, who on earth strolls around a high school track (instead of the rather pleasant neighbourhood nearby) in heels on a Sunday morning? While carrying a handbag instead of locking it in the car? Ah well-- more power to them for getting out and moving around, at any rate... (This time, I was glad there were no maintenance folk around because they'd have had conniptions.)
The prospect of trotting around a 400m track for an hour might seem boring, but it's amazing just how fascinating the human scenery can become! Plus, I managed to catch some of the little sun we've had today, which is no bad thing.
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