"Solitude" by Kurt Hare

Running

Running clears my head and I often brainstorm about the next story I’m planning to write for my creative writing class. Thoughts bombard me and sometimes I can’t wait to get home to write them down. Lately I’ve been reflecting on how I’m going to write a story about my grandfather’s aunts and uncles who lived in Texas before World War I. I think that it will make an interesting narrative - they went through so much.

I enjoy stretching my limbs across eight miles, loping like a gazelle down on the leaf strewn trail. Sometimes it seems that I experience a sense of weightlessness as I run. I embrace the elements, even when it’s cold and wet. I tough it out and keep running. Sometimes, I run for pure pleasure or at other times it’s just a way to forget about the stresses of the week.

Relaxing

When I have a spare hour, I soak up sun rays sitting in a deck chair. I’m reading sports, humor, or mysteries – enjoying King, Christie, or Amis. If I don’t want to expand my mind with literature, I absorb the music of Aerosmith, Pink Floyd, or U2. Electronic Yahtzee or Solitaire are always fun when I have an hour to spare. If I’m in the mood and the weather is rather nasty, I curl up in a wing chair and immerse myself in the comedy movies of Jim Carey, Leslie Nielsen, or Bill Murray. Their slap stick comedies are so uproariously funny that I once I almost slipped out of my chair.

Reality

I spend many hours studying or writing in a tiny room surrounded by literature, medical texts, and scientific journals. On the evenings when I burn the midnight oil, I have to remind myself why I spend so many hours in solitude. Whether I am running, relaxing, or studying, I am a slave to solitude.