“Don’t let it bring you down.”

— neil percival young

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I must admit I was clueless about the origin of Neil Young’s song until I saw a late night Behind the Music episode back in the days when MTV was about music. Those were simpler times.

He was on tour early in his career, after the release of Everybody Knows this is Nowhere but before marrying the mermaid from Splash. He was playing banjo in a park in Tuscaloosa while waiting for showtime. It was a cloudy, rainy day, not unlike this morning at the Lasso loop. As he plucked out a soulful yet twangy rendition of Sugar Mountain, a flock of geese gathered in the distance.

They seemed to enjoy the song, wagging their tail feathers in time to the music. Eventually, one of them warily waddled up to the cowboy hat he had placed on the ground as an impromptu tip jar. It flapped its magestic wings, seemingly in appreciation, and carefully dropped one of its finest feathers into the hat.

And then it pooped on the suede hippie boots he had taken off and left nearby.

Mr. Young looked at the poop, at the feather, at the hat. And it was then that he had an epiphany. You can let a goose bring you happiness. You can let a goose bring you inspiration. But don’t, and this is crucial, don’t let it bring you down.

Yin: Ruined boots.

Yang: He got a song out of it.

I got no songs out of today’s run. The Fit PA Fancy Pants Training Plan and Pimento Cheese Sandwich Dispenser©  had me down (get it?) for a 4-mile recovery stroll today. I, of course, protested to my AI coach, resulting in my electricity being shut off for a short period until I relented via cellphone. I’m starting to worry about AI becoming too powerful and taking over the world. Perhaps we could just offer it Tuscaloosa as a compromise. Or possibly Lake Superior could be renamed Lake AI. Nah, capriciously renaming bodies of water would be silly.

Coach Mussolini and I had a lively discussion today about whether or not we should increase September’s mileage to the point of bursting into flames. He eventually won and we kept the conservative but sane approach, but only because I really need electricity to cook my pimento cheese sandwich. Not to be confused with cooking my goose. We’re a bit sensitive to that subject in the park. And then the duck said to the bartender, “Put it on my bill.”

Just find someone who’s turning
And you will come around

I’ll be turning a lot on this course over the next couple of months.

Here’s hoping I come around.

The geese are having a party. I love them, poop and all.

They’re always welcome to bring me down.

But I’m keeping them away from my suede hippie running shoes.

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A bonus for anybody foolish enough to have made it all the way down here:

In one of life’s grand coincidences, there’s this.

On 4 Way Street, the beloved live CSN&Y album, Mr. Young introduces it by saying, “Here is a new song, it’s guaranteed to bring you right down. It’s called Don’t Let It Bring You Down. It sorta starts off real slow and then fizzles out altogether.”

“Starts off real slow and then fizzles out altogether” is the EXACT philosophy of my Fit PA Fancy Pants Training Plan and Pimento Cheese Sandwich Dispenser©. It’s all starting to make sense …