Wound-up On A Slab...

Wound-up On A Slab…

Fortunately, it wasn’t one in some local morgue someplace! Now, I like to cut-up as much as the next person, naturally, but not when a scalpel is involved, and especially not if I might be the subject of the exercise! Nope, it was one of those all-too familiar slabs of the super variety, but it was necessary… pretty much.

Yeah, I could have taken different routes, of course, and they would almost certainly have been a bit ‘zippier’ in the exhilaration category… However, when I balanced all ‘factors’ out including timing, other aspects and needs, and… You know how that goes… We all have to make choices in this life… Gotta give one thing up to gain another… When all choices are at least outstanding, though, it ain’t such an onerous thing after all…

Nope, I had a lunch date, see, and I was really pumped and very much looking forward to it! More often than not, our girl and her rider dine alone… her at the pump, this weary gypsy at some convenient grease bar some place. This day was to be an atypical but highly desirable exception, however, and I simply didn’t want to miss it or even be the least bit tardy. My dining partner was to be someone well known in ‘Dragon Circles’, and one nobody I know wouldn’t have wanted to do the same thing in terms of keeping that meal meeting… I hurried along… well, after a rather slow start to the day…

Very uncharacteristic for this traveler who in some ways is very predictable but usually not at all… whatever that might mean…?! Anyway, I over-slept. It has been known to happen… In earlier times it was a daily thing, but throughout the second half of this life, rather unusual. No particular explanation this time, so I’ll just use that old reliable reason for any good occurrence, provided by Napper somewhere back in the murky mists of time, “It’s due to pure thoughts and clean living…”

Weather, as always, was on my mind. Anytime of the year in dear ol’ Dixie, weather is subject to… all sorts of things! This trek, however, seemed to have even more than a ‘typical’ variety of unpleasantries thrown together in weird sequences of widely varying flirtations with extremes… Tornadoes, thunderstorms, cold temps, hot temps, while passing through periods of mild temps and dry conditions… Hey, I ain’t complaining here, I’m only pointing this out, so you can see how all of that complicates planning for extended rides… Yeah, that nasty little requirement I try hard to avoid, but just can’t seem to completely get away from…

Anyway, we were on a collision course with yet another round of serious looking rain heading our way, so allowance for that would have to be made… I could have just remained at ‘headquarters’ until perfect weather arrived before venturing forth, but… There is a word, ya know, for ‘riders’ who employ this technique… ‘Homebound’…

I picked out a spot to lay over for two nights that would position us for the next leg… and stop… on our way west. I have no idea just where we might eventually wander or how long we might be out this time, but it was for sure our weather fortunes would likely be better for us west of I-35 and beyond… ‘If ya wanna make mayonnaise, ya gotta break some eggs…’ ‘If ya wanna be a serious rider, ya gotta deal with whatever unpleasant weather you encounter…’ OK, so that’s how that had become our first ‘distant’ target…

Getting to west Texas from central Florida necessarily means riding through multiple other states, obviously. And, winter being what it is means better conditions would likely be encountered the closer to the Gulf of Mexico one rode… common sense… Well, a route such as that would mean… Yes indeed, a ride near the hacienda of arguably the most illustrious, magnanimous, cheerful, competent, and willing Valk wrench known to this rider, and one who has become indispensable in keeping our girl surging forward with her quest for immortality… Of course, I’m referring to Troutdude… A salty old fisherman who lives with his best catch ever… A truly nice guy, and a most accomplished healer of Valkyrie ailments… and an even better friend, too…

When one rides over a million miles, even 15-20% of that total is still a heap of miles! Many, perhaps more than with any other, of those accompanied miles have been with the afore-mentioned amazing guy… Small talk and fond recollections, as you would expect, come easily for the two of us any time we are together, and this brief encounter was no exception… Chuckles, guffaws, and outright laughter are frequent, as are more serious moments when sharing thoughts about other friends, especially those who are no longer with us… Still, it is one of those little vignettes of life that are always pleasant… perhaps among the best parts of life itself… I did make it in time, and… you know…

Following that little stop-over, we pounded the slab one more time headed towards that ‘planned-for’ location where we’d spend two nights… I awoke this morning to… well, let’s just say the forecasters nailed it this time. Not so much right here, although everything was damp, dreary, and uninviting, and that did go downhill from there later in the day, but between here and the next anticipated stop… things also appeared rather dicey on the radar! Anyway, I have a fallback task I can always employee to avoid or at least postpone succumbing to the seductive power of that doggone advertising medium, TV. Yep, so here I am, composing this little ditty for posting later… And, now you know…

DDT