In the academic world, low-hanging fruit is a metaphor for the easiest targets to grab. Whether it's for grants, sturyding, or residencies, the low-hanging fruit is the stuff that we grab first before settling in for the longer tasks that are going to take more time. So, for example, when I grade papers, I will pick those that are the quickest to grade, so I can get feel like I've accomplished something.
Yesterday, I found out about the dangers of low-hanging fruit... literally.
It wasn't raining when I got home from work, and there was nobody home: no wifey, no kids, no dogs. I decided to go out for a run. Since it is now dark at 5:00 PM, I was going to wear something that could be seen by cars. I put on a black long-sleeved top. Okay, so not the best color choice, but I also put on a reflective belt, Nightlife gloves, and a headlamp. I used to think that the more reflective and bright clothing I wore, the more I was lighting myself up as a target for cars to aim at. But, since I was wearing a black shirt, I figured I needed a lot to be seen. My run was pretty uneventful for the first half. I saw a buck out on the road, and I think he was trying to decide if he needed to get out of the way for me. Whether it was me or the car that was approaching from the other direction, the buck decided to high-tail it for the other side of the road and safety beyond.
As I headed up Union for home, I decided to stay on the sidewalk. Now, if you are familiar with Steilacoom at all, there are places on Union where the sidewalk takes abrupt left and right jogs at seemingly random locations (although it probably has to do with trees in the planting strip). And, I haven't yet memorized those locations. So, one second I was running along the middle of the sidewalk, happily trotting along (it was a pretty good run), and the next second I was in the middle of the planting strip as the sidewalk had jogged left. And then... WHAM! Smacked right on the nose by an apple (the low-hanging fruit). Although it didn't hurt, the suddenness of getting whacked on the bridge of the nose by a solid, wet object in the dark was a bit startling. And since my headlamp beam is pointed at the ground so I can be on the lookout for things that I can step in or get tripped by, the apple was totally unexpected.
Since nothing was hurt, and all was well, it was good for a chuckle, though. And I realized that there was yet another danger to running in the dark!
