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Only 5 days to go!
Yesterday morning, glancing at the 10 day forecast, it looked as if it was going to be clear sailing until 31 December. Sunny skies and temperatures in the upper 40s to mid 50s for the remaining 6 days of the voyage. Then, when I arrived back home in the afternoon from my ride, I did a double-take when I looked at the refreshed forecast; rain was now in the forecast for Monday with a high of only 39. Where did that come from?
Something that I believe anyone who takes up a long-term challenge comes to innately know, is that there are no givens, no sense of entitlements (especially from nature!) and no whining. An attitude quickly develops of adjusting to the circumstance, making do, making MORE than do and finding ways to push beyond what we thought we were capable of accomplishing. Yes, there may be complaining and moaning but those are short-lived moments of expressing frustration.
Sun would have been nice today and it felt as if I was preparing to deep sea dive as I donned on the layers topped off by the neoprene booties and rain paints and rain coat to hermetically seal me. But, once out, I was determined to make the best of the ride and call upon my old refrain of seeking beauty; it would have been easy to just put my head down, watch the road and let the hour go by and put another notch on my daily journey belt.
These last few days reminded me of working the last week as a waiter at a restaurant after I had given notice. In that job, it would have been easy to let things slide and not try as hard. Perhaps because I liked the manager I had been working for, I did the opposite; I hustled even more, took more responsibility for duties that may not even have been mine and left on a very good note. That attitude served me quite well since the new job did not turn out and only a week later, I was back asking for my old job back. Ron, the manager, had taken note of the high note on which I left and welcomed me back, even slipping me into the same seniority that I had when I left, a very HUGE deal.
There is a similar feeling with these last few days. It is easy to try and slide by, do my own established rule of 60 minutes a day and be done with the ride for the day. But that would feel as if I'm being disrespectful to the honor of the ride by not trying to give something special these last few days. And, that was on my mind as I moved out in the rain today, seeking beauty.
I found it in a lone water drop hanging down from a mailbox. I stopped more than once at the box to capture the drop from different angles.
When I took the picture above and viewed it in the display screen, something seemed amiss as I wondered where that finger hold on the bottom of the mailbox came from. It took a moment to realize that it was the raindrop. I like the cosmic feel of it as well: the sun photographed through a filter or an odd shaped moon. I also see a mask, with one eye closed and the other eye only partially exposed.
This is actually another drop clinging on another part of the box.
Back to the same rain drop. This is now taken from the other side.
My bicycle, that I used to steady the camera on.
The picture above intrigued me as it seemed to have an animal-like quality, an eye of a toad. I flipped the photograph to make it seem more so.
Moving in closer and capturing the blue address sign in the background, I like the more steely feel of the pictures below.
Today's Ride: 70mins. 12.00 miles. 40°-37° Miles YTD: 10,179.49
Donations for Biking for Food, which support the Community Meals at St Paul’s Episcopal Church in Fayetteville, AR, can be sent to: Biking for Food, St Paul’s Episcopal Church, 224 N. East Ave., Fayetteville, AR 72701
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