The Other Side Of The Tunnel

Well, I experienced something new last night.

I've been running with my trusty running partner, Lara, on Wednesday nights. I also call Lara "the billy goat" because she has no problem prancing up and down mountains in the dark and calls them, "trail runs". But whatever, the billy goat is currently 7 months pregnant and finally my speed. So rather than drag me along, kicking and screaming, at a pace that is a serious struggle for me, she now has been slowed down to something more reasonable: sedated snail speed. Perfect.

Anyhoo, Lara and I have been meeting at a running path called the greenbelt that runs through parts of Scottsdale and all the way into Tempe. Being that this is the desert and very little green grows here naturally, it's safe to assume that the greenbelt runs along heavily watered, higher end communities. And golf courses. Lots of golf here in the desert.

The start of the path is located next to a parking lot for shops and restaurants. When I was training for the NYC marathon, we ran here because there are a lot of trees on the path for shade and it's prettier than running in the desert. Plus, you can run for miles and miles. Ideal for marathon training.

We've been running just over 2 miles out and back, for a total of about 4.5 miles. Well, last night we got to about 1.9 miles and the sprinklers along the path were on. When it's hot out, this sounds ideal, but in reality, the water is reclaimed water, so not really good to be running through.

We decide to turn around and make up the difference on the way back by getting to the parking lot and running through the tunnel to get to the other side for a bit. Of all the times we've run the greenbelt, I've never gone through that tunnel to the other side. I assumed it was just a neighborhood.

We get through the tunnel and up to the sidewalk. It's really dark, so I can see some random lights up ahead off to the right. Because I'm a nosy, busy body, I suggest that we should check it out. Plus, I've watched enough X-files in my lifetime to know that this could be the work of aliens or a government conspiracy.

 

As we got closer, it became increasingly obvious that we were not dealing with alien aircraft lights, but in my vast experience ("vast experience" loosely translates as paranormal nerd) you can never be too careful.

Those are solar lights planted into the ground.

We get up close and find solar lights in the ground. Weird, right? It was a large grassy area. Being that is was really dark with no street lights, I couldn't quite figure out what we were looking at.

Yup. We were in a grave yard. That's certainly a first for me. This must be a smaller and newer cemetery because I didn't really see any upright head stones, but rather head stones on the ground.

 

So, of course, what's the first thing I do when I realize that I'm standing in a cemetery? Take a picture with the flash on to see if I spot any orbs. Disappointingly, I found none.

 

If you don't know what orbs are, you clearly have not watched as many episodes of My Ghost Story as I have. I do not recommend watching that show and running alone in the dark. Just sayin.

I was hoping for my very own X-file experience (I can't express my joy enough over the revival of my all time favorite show ever), but clearly this is not an overly haunted cemetery. Disappointing.

Sexiest TV duo in history

 

And that leaves me with 953.37 miles left to run in 2016.

 

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