From a ride I took a little while back. Hope you enjoy.
Two Wheeled Wednesday
When I awoke this morning, still fighting off a post-Christmas gotta go back to work next week depression, I decided to take a bike ride. I got my gear together, checked the tire pressure, fired up the bike, said my good-byes, and hit the road. For no reason in particular I headed east toward Natchez, MS. I haven't been through the area in years and thought, what the heck, let's go.
For the first few minutes, all I could think about was getting out of the city traffic. I wanted to be on the open road, cranking the throttle through the curves, and putting some miles behind me. However, the fellow humans in town had other ideas to slow down my exodus. Texting on a cell phone half-way through a green light or picking ones nose are things that are better done while not in a car in public, just saying...
Finally, the open road awaits and all I can think about are the things I wanted to escape from for awhile. Will we get this project completed in time for production start up next week? How will the business survive the overtime ahead of us this season? How will we manage the stress that goes along with making things for a living? And then, it happened...
I rounded a curve and lying before me was some of the most beautiful river delta I've seen in a while. In the distance, the Spanish moss was blowing in the breeze while a soft drizzle created a fog over the land around me. I quickly forgot about life and its many stressors; quickly succumbing to the mistress that is a motorcycle. I grabbed the throttle, powered around the traffic in my lane, and rapidly made them disappear.
As I finally found my Zen, I began to notice the beauty that is our world. The mist covered river delta covered in freshly tilled sod. The levees standing like sentries guarding the farm-homes along the way. The occasional graceful heron standing in a swamp in search of a quick meal.
Onward I ride and the lighter side of my heart takes over as I notice a plantation named "Frogmore". What were the owner's of this location thinking when they named it "Frogmore"? Where they frog lovers with a hope they would find a long lost princess? Was their original homestead overtaken by frogs during some unknown frog plague? Who knows, maybe next time I can stop and ask...
Nearing my destination for the day, now in full-on Zen mode, I take in my surroundings and smile. I pass a small restaurant named "The Butt Hut". Yep, it's a real place in Vidalia, LA. I cross the mighty Mississippi River and am awestruck by its size and wonder what it looked like thousands of years ago when it was but a stream...
Destination reached, I begin the return trip home and am thankful for my time here. Our world is a wondrous and beautiful place if we just take the time to look and unplug our minds from the distractions of the day. Smiling as I roll on the throttle, I think of "The Butt Hut". I must bring my family back here one day soon. Any place named "The Butt Hut" must be fun...
