the boat.

on thursday in north york in april of a long and sporadic spring, i sit reading short stories by alistair macleod and wish that i had said so many things so well. there is a blister on the top of my left foot where my new expensive running shoe rubbed me the wrong way, perhaps as a reminder that there is always more to take care of than the simple planting of one foot in front of the other. and nevertheless, i ran. i ran on a tuesday night, round and round a wealthy neighbourhood across from the hospital and tucked in behind an outlying university campus. i ran in front of my reluctant daughter, one so curly and stubborn it is hard to categorize her as some kind of person; she is more wolverine or shark. i goaded her into more steps and more laps, looking down every now and again to check our progress, and i did so guiltily. we had already run more kilometres than i had when i was twice her age, and she had already had a full day of the life of a 10-year-old schoolgirl, and here i was, marching her around a neighbourhood of haves while i tried to suss out my ankle and my stride and my mind. she never complained. so round we went as my thoughts and my motives, and i dropped her off for a rest by the split rail fence in front of an incongruously small house, more fitted to an embankment next to the madawaska, or the petawawa, or somewhere among pine trees and balsam. i caught up to my older daughter, and she grinned and giggled and raced me up the hill, refusing to give in, still genuinely curious as to whether i could keep up, or if it would be the day that i could not. we crested the hill and i urged her on, hurtling smoothly over cracked pavement and all my broken choices, and then i turned into sports announcer, calling her out, sending her to the line. she accelerated then, hair aloft behind her, freckles blurred with the effort, long legs turning her into a horse at full gallop. and then we jogged it off, reminisced the workout, picked up the little sister, and my heart glowed. we returned to the parking lot together. i saved the reveal of their total distance until we were just about done, and their giggling pride could not be suppressed. they raced to the car, collapsed against it to gasp in between laughter, and i knew then that all my broken choices would never undo the shine of what we’ve done right.