Blurgh (And The Best Photo of My Dog Ever)

Daisy Duke, in a contemplative moment along a Connecticut river bank.

The Indestructible Mazda has 185,000 miles on it and still runs like a champ. Except for the ABS light that came on about a month ago and the unmistakeable gravely sound the car has been making as it comes to a stop. Clearly, the IM needs new brakes.

Daisy Duke and I girded ourselves for a cold jog back from the garage today. I put on a tight running shirt and a running sweatshirt; Daisy danced around excitedly to get her body temperature up before leaving the house.

The car guy is about 2.5 miles from our house, if you take a direct route. Finding a good car guy is always the second-least-favorite thing about moving. No. 1 is finding a dentist. It's nice to feel like you know a guy in the business. Our guy doesn't rip us off and has done some small repairs for free. Can't beat that.

Daisy Duke hopped out of the Indestructible Mazda and quickly extended the leash until it was tout. We were going downhill, so it was easy to keep up with her as she broke herself into the run. We used to run this route when we lived in the outskirts of downtown Portland. The houses are old and generally not as up to date as I would prefer, but the neighborhoods are cute and quaint, with wooded lots and coffee shops.

The Wife was a mile away from us when we started, teaching class at the school she attended as recently as a year and a half ago. The school is supposedly on the only street in America you can attend an elementary school, middle school, high school, Catholic school and college. You could spend the first 22 years of your life attending schools all within a half mile of each other. We made it through two.

It's hard to believe this run was part of our regular route, back in the day. We still know the weird rolls in the sidewalk as it drops down to the Back Cove, Portland's 3.5-mile loop trail around a backwater. At high tide, it's a beautiful pond with the city as a backdrop. At low tide, it's a muddy mess filled with seagulls looking for an easy meal. It was high tide today.

Less experienced runners never know if they're running into the wind until they turn into the wind. You can run for miles convinced you're not getting a push from the wind or wishing the wind would pick up. Then you turn a corner and run into a 15 mph breeze; you didn't realize how good you'd had it.

Today was one of those days. We turned onto the Cove and the wind was blowing from the Northwest. With temperatures floating in the mid 30s, my hands went instantly numb. Daisy seemed unperturbed.

After we took care of pooping and peeing (Daisy's), we found a steady pace. The Back Cove has markers every quarter of a mile along the trail to let you know how far you've gone. On a bad day, it can be demoralizing to see how long it takes between signs. Today, as we turned to the right back to town, it was fun to look up, see the next sign and think, "Already another sign? All right!"

The leaves are almost all gone off the trees along the north shore of the Back Cove. We crossed the bridge that shares space with I-295 and ducked under to the Eastern Prom shoreline. They're already stringing Christmas lights along the trail. A fake Christmas tree lay on its side, blown over by the wind.

Remember that Christmas tree in Boston's Fanieul Hall? Damn thing was real and it was gigantic. We only visited it a few times but it was always a hit, if just to have something to do that was "Christmasy." I liked Christmas time in Boston, even if we were already planning to leave town. Things don't always work the way you think they're going to work.

Our run today was one of those things. It shouldn't have been a good run because it had been days since I'd had a decent run. But it helps when the wind is pushing you along at a 15 mph pace.

We were making great time as we motored past the port where the giant cruise ships used to come in. They'll be back. Only a few tourists got in our way as we screamed down Commercial Street, past the Portland Lobster Company where we ate with Hashtag and PoundSign#. They'll be back, too.

There was hardly any vehicle traffic as we crossed Commercial Street. The traffic, too, will be back. We walked into the parking lot and into the house. The hands, which had been almost white-numb, instantly turned bright red. The house is a steady 70 degrees. Our electric bill is still under $50 a month. All a far cry from when TW was in graduate school and we heated the house to 60 degrees with heating oil. We spent $2,000 a winter to be uncomfortable in our own home.

As long as the Mazda remains Indestructible, we can easily afford our digs, now.