This morning I ran 14 miles. I got up as early as I could – 6:30 – to avoid the heat, but half way through the run the sun was beating down on me. It was a long, difficult run. Throughout the run I meditated on a set of ideas that I have been struggling with for several weeks. Less than a mile from the finish, I was delirious from heat stress, dehydration and fatigue and I came upon a 5’ rattlesnake gliding across my path. Of course I stopped and yielded the right-of-way, verbally encouraging the snake to keep on moving on, and the question came to me, “what is the meaning of this encounter?”
I thought about the symbolism of the snake. Of course the religions of Abraham equate the snake with wisdom and the devil, but the older symbolism is much more appealing to me: from the shedding of old skin and being reborn into new skin, eternal life and renewal; from the image of the snake with his tail in his mouth, the unity of the cycles of life; and of course mediator between life and death as represented by the physician’s caduceus and the story of the little prince.
The snake passed and as I continued my run, I thought it is time to conclude my meditation on the ideas I have been struggling with and put my thoughts in words. So I shall begin working on an essay, “An Answer for Margot.”
Angel is here and kitchen construction is under way.
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