receiving my "come uppance"

I saw him again this morning as I headed down Main Street here in Hutch, on my way to school.  With the early morning temperatures well into the 20's, I was surprised to see a bicyclist's blinking tail light in the "still dark" early morning hours.  I thought "What kind of crazy person would be out in this bitter cold going for a ride?"  (Of course I realize that some people probably thought this summer, "what crazy woman would try to jump a curb?")  So I'm thinking I didn't have a lot of room to talk.  


When I caught up with him, a couple of blocks later, I realized immediately who it was.  He was the guy that I always saw riding his bike down Main Street all summer long.  He must have liked to ride the same very early morning hours that I did because I always seemed to "intercept" him at the 11th and Main stop light.


It's been 4 months now, but I remember the last time I rode on the morning of August 4th, I came across him.  It was always my "vain" challenge to secretly try to ride fast enough to catch up to him, a total stranger to me, and then speed up and over take him, always leaving him behind in a cloud of dust.  I was always proud of myself that I could build up enough speed to be flying down Main Street at about 14 mph, except of course on the days (and there were many) when the wind was perpetually out of the south at about 35 mph. 


Well, this unknown guy always seemed to take it in stride and when I would come back on Main as I went home after the ride, I'd see him usually once again.   He was always a friendly sort of person, always giving me a wave of his hand as we passed one another again.  After my bike wreck, I guess you could say I received my "come uppance" in this life for all the times when I smugly plotted to ride fast as the wind and beat his cadence as we both rode down the street.  And the bottom line was--he could still ride his bike, even on a cold winter day like today.  I, on the other hand, was sidelined...so I guess the moral to this story is "slow and steady wins the race." otherwise paraphrased as "He who is careful and doesn't try to do stupid things on a bike will always be able to keep riding!  :)


These days for exercise I have to resort to walking on a daily basis.  And friends, I have to tell you, if I had to choose between riding a bike 15 miles a day or walking 2 miles a day, I'm going with the former.  Although I really don't mind walking, there's something about it that is just plain boring to me.  Because the weather has turned so "winter like" cold now, I generally make the daily journey out to the hospital to use the underground tunnel there.  Going back and forth I can come up with a 2-mile walk pretty easily.  I don't feel very safe walking on the sidewalks around the neighborhood here~too many uneven patches that promote tripping and falling.  I'm trying to take good care of "old lefty" so I don't get hurt again.  Besides that, I figure "what the heck"...at least if I get hurt walking at the hospital it won't involve Grahame having to drive like a maniac to get me to the ER.  Those of you reading this who live close to Hutch, I encourage you to try out the tunnel if you have not already.  It may be a boring view but at least it's safe and very predictable.  


This weekend will be busy for me as I'm sure it is for all you good friends.  I'm hoping that Dr. Chan will schedule my second surgery for 2 weeks from today.  And knowing that I'll be in a long arm cast for another 2 months, makes me want to be better prepared here at home.  Although the idea of being in a cast once again is not my favorite thought, at least THIS time I will get a "heads up" as to what is ahead.  So I'll be "making hay while the sun still shines" all weekend long, finishing up what I can for Christmas and cleaning up the house.  I know this sounds "goofy" but this morning I practiced dressing myself with one hand again just to see if I could do it.  Glad to say, it all came back to me...Things will undoubtedly change for me again and I just hope to be able to make it for the 8-week time period that will lie ahead.  The time will be a trade off for me.....8 weeks of inconvenience for what I hope will be the final surgery that "old lefty" will have to go through.


Wishing all of you a good upcoming weekend.  All of us are so busy and the Christmas holidays seem to add a whole lot of stress to our already "stressed out" lives.  Please my dear friends, take time to slow up just a little this weekend.  Do something good for yourselves, take care of one another.   For as fast as this life passes by all of us, please slow down enough to pause from time to time.  I've had to learn that lesson the hard way, it seems, in the last 4 months.  But it was a lesson I definitely needed to learn.


And oh, by the way....to the unknown bicycle rider that I saw this morning and so very many mornings during the hot months of summer...Sir, I admire you and your perseverance in keeping up the "ride" each day.  For all of the times I flew by you like a "hot shot", my apologies.  If I ever get back on my bike again, I promise to only ride fast enough to catch up to you.  Bike riding is more fun done alongside someone, not a half mile ahead.  :)

Slow down folks....you  might seeing the most beautiful sunrise in the whole wide world!  July 16, 2011 along Eales Road, south of Hutchinson on Yoder Road.