Exercise

One of the parks we visited in Oxford was a converted former golf course with connecting walking/jogging paths and lake among other features.  As we were all walking one of the large paths around the park, some girls jogged past.  Nathan suddenly took off running behind them, with Evan in tow.  I figured they would stop a short distance ahead and come back or just wait on us.  WRONG!  Nathan kept running up a hill and past it, completely out of sight.  Evan stopped at the crest of the hill to look back and then disappeared with Nathan.  They were already a good bit ahead of us, and the lake was over that hill.  So were a number of random strangers.  And their dogs, both big and small.  Some not on leashes.  And the sun was almost completely set.  And the lighting was poor, as the park technically closes at dusk.  So, I ran... I ran so far away... (that's for you Flock of Seagulls fans).  Anyway, I started jogging, expecting to see them just past the crest of the hill.  NOPE!  When I got to the top, I saw them waaaayyyyy..... down past the lake, STILL RUNNING!  AWAY FROM THE LIGHTED AREA, and into a dark trail area behind a cluster of trees.  "NAAAATHAAAN!" I shouted.  Of course he couldn't hear even MY big mouth, because he was so far away.  I finally caught Evan's attention, as he was lagging behind Nathan and he stopped and returned to me.  I caught a glimpse of Nathan coming around the other side of the trees, still running close to the college girls that started this mess.  I headed down an intersecting path, but there was not enough time and with the wind in his face he didn't hear me calling him.  Finally, I lost sight of him in the darkness of night.  With Evan too tired to run with me and my mom and Laura too far back to leave Evan with, I prayed for Nathan's safety and wisdom and walked steadily onward.  Finally, I saw a small figure in the shadowy trail near the parking area ahead of me.  "NATHAN!" "Hey, Dad!"  "WHAT in the WORLD have you been DOING the last 20 minutes, son?!"  "I was running!"  "WHY did you just keep running and running so far away from us?"  "I was EXERCISING!... I LIKE to RUN, Dad!  I wanna run some more!"  Suffice it to say he's now VERY CLEAR that running clear out of our sight is a no-no!