The 4th of July
I find it easier to do something 'constructive' on big days. This was a special day. Today I went cycling to the Sailing Club on Baseline Lake ( some 27 kms away). It was searingly hot when I left then it got cooler as I entered the mico-climate of the scenic Huron River Drive. The Huron River Drive is a great place to bike. Many cyclists, few cars. A route that runs parallel to a train track and the Huron River. I was looking a little anachronistic with my bike with the white-wall tires and conservative handlebar, compared to the lycra-clad, 17-Speed, orange-juice can toting "Super-cyclists".
Suddenly a dust storm blows up and light drizzle. The sunny sky turns murky, grey in nanoseconds ( I am not kidding!) and then it starts to pour. Thanks to great American design, mudguards are not considered a vital accesory. In minutes , I am splattered with the mud. My backpack turns from black to brown. The bike ...it was blue when I last remembered... I HAD GREAT FUN!!
Then I stopped under a tree and wondered..Yeah this is what a good monsoon rain is like. Here I was standing in the middle of nowhere, on a dirt road looking at how the rain soaked the green fields in front of me. The map in my bag getting wet. (older readers may note that I had changed to my sandals and kept my socks DRY in the bag. See old post on Soggy Socks Suck!)
I wondered why I was so damn happy. loved every moment. Getting wet..stopping.. Maybe it was all things together.
A- I had no time pressure
B- No entry in the What-the-well-dressed-man-is-wearing-nowadays
C- No bickering companions who cannot appreciate a good soak
and most importantly ..
D- I was excited about the trip, the journey and not the destination.
Its another thing about the great day I had sailing and then again riding back all those miles. Most of the best times in life are the little ones. The small and seemingly insignificant. The ones that SOMEONE else would wonder. Did that make that much of a difference? I think they do. Those moments which are pointless and happened unplanned.... Like this one somewhere on Huron Drive, 2 miles from the destination. Getting soaked in the rain through a potholed dirt road. Wet, aching muscles, sore hands, alone and as happy as can be.