Imagine That...

Imagine That…

Oh My! It was one of those truly special days for sure. By no means typical, but not all that rare either. Just another absolutely splendid day where everything seemed in perfect harmony, our girl was enthusiastically happy, even feeling a wee bit spunky, and her rider was rather sanguine with the entire set-up, too. Temps hovered right around the 70* mark, not a cloud to be found anywhere in the sky, winds were as light as the traffic, and humidity was low, while spirits were off the charts high! All that plus that incredible view… WOW!

It would be hard for even a vivid imagination to come up with anything as seemingly perfect as that surreal setting. The recently repaved road surface was flawlessly smooth, the curves joyously free of sand or other debris, and visibility was excellent due largely to the wide rights of way all along the route. There were no switchbacks, but there was sufficient curvatude to provide enough challenge to keep the ride interesting, but not enough to turn this into a highly technical ride. It just felt absolutely wonderful, and this trekking duo was enjoying it to the max!

I couldn’t recall ever having ridden this way before, so it was all pure discovery for us. Have I ever mentioned that I love mountains? Well I do! Occasionally we came upon an overlook, and since there were no time pressures at all, we took advantage of many of them. One of my enjoyments is to set up the ‘nap chair’ in such a setting and just gaze off into the distance. I let my mind ‘free-wheel’ with nothing in particular to ponder, just whatever happens to pop into my consciousness…

For sure it has been absolutely wonderful to allow the urgencies of the day to pass without thinking I have to solve the world’s problems or ‘straighten’ anybody out. Sadly, there was a time when I was slogging along on that treacherous treadmill, but I’m now convinced I was doing more harm than good for myself yet contributing nothing to the world beyond either.

I’ve been unable to identify even a single area where the world has missed me or lost anything due to my absence. However, I’m also convinced that I am far better off having dismounted that drainer of intellectual and emotional vitality! In fact, I actually believe it has extended my life and led to far greater contentment with myself and the direction of my life…

Yes, I do realize that as a citizen I have a moral and civic duty to keep myself informed and to participate in the process, principally by voting. I go through the motions and force myself to do those things, but in a very different way than before. Instead of boring-in on miniscule details to the point that other important areas of my life are neglected, I now focus on keeping an open mind, listening to others, and trying to engineer a better person of myself…

I think that has produced a more complete person; one who is sound on fundamentals, understands concepts, and has a grasp of the big picture. I think I am able to make more informed and better choices than someone who simply follows an ideological or political party line and/or memorizes then recites the talking points of ‘our side’…

Regrettably, I’ve almost never found myself voting ‘for’ someone; rather, merely voting ‘against’ someone I find totally unacceptable. Not what the founding fathers had in mind, of course, but… what choice do we have when the candidates themselves can only be selected because they seem barely slightly less repugnant than their competition, or their rhetoric seems only slightly less risky than the alternative? I can see where no amount of effort on my part could even remotely hope to alter the status quo in any way. What I can do is keep myself honest while reducing stress and avoiding being sucked into some mindless, endless, vicious, but ultimately futile circle of political warfare.

BANG! What the heck was that I wondered! I bolted upright with a start and tried to figure out what was going on. It was as though I was in a fog, scarily disoriented, and completely lost at first! Soon enough I realized I was in that danged ol’ recliner at my late land lady’s place… Matt Dillion had just dispatched another bad guy to Boot Hill… and I was doing another thing I’m well known for doing… snoozing while sometimes watching the tube… It would also appear that a vivid imagination could indeed conjure up the experience just described above after all… Mine!

Oh yeah, I am so ready for us to get back out there and do what we do! I have much to think about, much to square with my conscience, and peace to continue to pursue. Time and some effort are required to get us at last into position for that, while those seem agonizingly slow to sufficiently unfold. I know patience and perseverance will be richly rewarded; however… neither of those attributes happen to be specialties of mine… sigh…

DDT