Sprinklers

I dodge sprinklers.

It is quite a dash, I assure you.

First of all, let me begin by saying my apartment complex is nice.  The buildings are newer, the facilities are clean, and the grounds are well tended and maintained.

My apartment is on the ground floor.  The door opens to a breezeway which, at the end of the building, continues on (uncovered) as a winding sidewalk leading circuitously to the clubhouse and my goal: the workout room.

For the first few weeks we lived in the new complex, getting to the workout room was a breeze.  Open door.  Turn right.  Follow the path to the clubhouse.  Easy as pie.  I only paid slight attention to the wet sidewalk.  "Did it rain?" I'd ask myself, the thought leaving as quickly as it came.

Cut to two weeks ago.  5:12 AM.  Open door.  Turn right.  Follow the sidewalk...stop.  Water was shooting across the path, blocking my exit from the building.  My first inclination was to turn around and go back to bed.  No way was I walking through sprinklers to get to the gym.  Pause.  (It was 5:12 AM.  Things require more time to process that early in the morning.)  The voice of reason chided, "You're not seriously going to let the sprinklers stop you.  What a lame excuse."

Well, I certainly wasn't going to run through the sprinklers, either!  I glanced back at the enemy to plot my next move.  The sprinkler rotated.  As it arched, it generously watered the sidewalk.  So glad we're keeping our sidewalks healthy and happy.  We sure don't want any part of them to shrivel up and die.

I decided to run down the sidewalk when the sprinkler rotated away from my building and follow the path the opposite direction, where I would then backtrack to the clubhouse.  Good plan, right?

Yep, except for as my eye followed the path I would take, my jaw dropped.

All of the sidewalks were being watered.

Bed was looking better and better.  And then...

I blinked.  The path to the gym was clear as all of the sprinklers rotated away from my building at once.  All I had to do was run, in a diagonal line, to the clubhouse door.  Straight through the grass.

Yep, that's right, folks.  If you don't want to get wet from the morning sprinklers, avoid sidewalks and run through the grass.

So now, if you happen to drive past my apartment early in the morning and see someone sprinting through the yard you know what's going on.  Open door.  Turn right.  Dodge sprinklers.