DDT (12)
Member
Posts: 4112
Sometimes ya just gotta go...
Winter Springs, FL - Occasionally...
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« on: February 02, 2022, 11:34:45 AM » |
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The Three 'Rs'... (Maybe Four…)
Riding Round Rain... Yep, that's what we’ve earnestly been trying to do. Lately, we've found ourselves also riding a lot to avoid natural 'Refrigeration' too! Dang! Is it possible the libs have been correct all along, and climate change caused by mankind’s ignorance, carelessness, extravagance, and greed is actually wreaking havoc with our planet now? Something certainly seems to be going on, as things just ain't like I remember them being...
Ya know, my recollector muscle ain't what it used to be either. And being only human causes recollections and conclusions themselves to vary over time. 'Selective recall', nostalgic romanticism, wishful thinking, and coincident experiences also play a prominent role in shaping 'suitable memories'. Comparisons of the historical record even by ‘experts’, too, are often ‘manipulated’ just a bit but only to add emphasis or modestly embellish a story, however, or so they say. ‘Twisting or tweaking facts’ is a skill all of us acquire early on and perfect over the span of our lives… Many of us sometimes lose sight of the fact, though, that we aren’t the only ones who do that…
Well, none of my actions are contributing to any consequential solutions to the world’s woes… but they are doing wonders for us! We’re just doing what comes natural for us hoping not to be causing any harm. So far, we’ve managed to stay dry, but we’ve been much less successful with the natural refrigeration avoidance thing, I’m afraid. Hope we’ve stumbled upon a solution that will at least ease our plight some by finding a little favorable ‘climate change’ for ourselves, as in warmer temps down in the southernmost tip of the Republic…! I’ll let ya know how we do…
I began this piece and almost immediately launched into a self-debate about the topic of climate change. Yeah, that hot-button subject that is helping to polarize the electorate and divide our fellow citizens into opposing camps, which often fall into shouting matches… for now. Is it possible even more severe actions will follow? I surely hope not, as I find myself on both sides of that issue, and I surely don’t need any ‘internal’ conflict!
I’ll probably continue that personal exploration of such an important consideration for all of us, but it is highly doubtful it will ever be shared with anyone else. I’m already finding it to be nearly impossible to accurately describe my own view in a way that truly conveys my own thoughts. It’s mighty hard to remain apart from the heated passion and personal evaluations of trends, facts, and especially information already suspect from those with hidden agendas who spew that stuff out.
No, at this point, what I’ve already jotted down is even unsatisfying to this writer, so I’m sure it would only go too far for some, while not far enough for others. That would leave all disagreeing with this poor fellow, who’s only striving to understand what is really going on and how we should react. No desire here to stoke the fires of controversy nor to add any fuel, so… I’ll just stick with sharing the trip ponderings and happenings…
Not exactly aimless wandering, but pretty close… or at least it might appear so. We departed Montgomery and headed over into Mississippi. We didn’t want to stray too far from ‘home’ in case my BIL had an opportunity to get out for a ride of some sort. Nothing appeared likely to develop, but I did want to keep the door ajar and the option open… just in case…
I feel sort of obliged to take him under my wing, so to speak, and introduce him to the mini-coddiewomple. Although he is a pretty good technical rider, he’s done no long-distance touring, and I’m convinced he’d love it! He certainly seems interested and quite eager, but stuff has kept popping up and preventing him from taking the plunge… so far…
Trout Dude let me know that some mail I was expecting had arrived at his place, so we headed towards that destination… I just love it when I never know which way we might head on any given morning, let alone where we might wind up in some unexpected location! That turned into an overnighter with dinner at the Town Grill again… a new favorite of mine!
Rain was on the way and cooler temps would be following… so… time for us to seek refuge. But where? Hmmm, southernmost Texas appeared to be the best available choice, since there wasn’t time to head for Arizona and beat the rain and cooler temps due between where we were and where we might want to go… Always those pesky choices… and all those darned plans that simply have to be made! I hope Branden’s climate fix-it-plan includes a ‘weather-on-demand’ feature…
The choice wasn’t hard to make. It was going to be wet off and on for the next couple of weeks, and cold temps were definitely on the way again! You’d think it was winter or something! Shucks, we needed to hunker down, it became obvious, so… I told myself half-heartedly that we could always use a rest anyway, so I visited the AirB&B link in my Favorites list… I found a couple of places right along the Rio Grande (not waterfront of course, but only a mile or two), so I began to study the possibilities…
The first choice seemed perfect! When I didn’t hear back from the owner right away, I chickened out and locked down my second choice… The best places are usually booked well in advance, so I consider myself very lucky to find a really good one on such short notice! Can’t dawdle, however, as they don’t usually remain available long! The owner of my first choice had been in the Philippines, it turned out, and the fourteen-hour time difference had impacted the timing of his response… Oh well… We still got a decent deal, I think…
That’s the good news. The not-so-good news was that the house wouldn’t be available until Friday February 4th. Dang just over a week to kill! So, we meandered over to Winnie, TX, and settled in after a fairly short day. Rain was bearing down on us, so we chose to ride on the next day to Victoria, where we’d spend three nights. There is a Denny’s restaurant right next door to the place I’ve stayed in before, so we had a tolerable plan to sit out the rain that would overtake us there. We did, it did, and no unicorns were injured in the making of this memory.
We were figuring on another short day over to Laredo for two nights, but the weather was just too ify. Those subtle daily forecast changes introduced just enough risk for this determined dry rider to not gamble… We rode directly to Brownsville instead and took a room for three more nights. More TV watching than actual riding so far, but hey, it’s good practice for the nineteen nights we’ll be staying at that house in Brownsville!
We’re in for some rain tomorrow (Thursday) then some cold temps for several days… The ad clearly stated the house has a heater, so… I ain’t worried… much… A few sites to visit around here, plus I’ll be needing to do some shopping, particularly for groceries, so I’ll, like always, manage… This will also be an excellent time to read some more on various subjects, especially history and philosophy… Even though we won’t be riding much for a while, I’m actually looking forward to this unexpected change of pace in a not previously considered location! Yep, I’m proud to be here!!! Funny thing about that… I usually don't know where ‘here’ is until we arrive…
DDT
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