Today’s ride was beautiful.
I got on the road a little after 8:30 so things were a little cooler. I might shoot for an even earlier departure time in the future. Today is a long ride, over five hours, so I’m still going to be riding in the heat for a while. Regardless of the heat I start getting uncomfortable after a couple of hours of riding, so I take breaks about that often.
Yesterday afternoon after spending some time at a coffee shop, I had some time to just chill and read, write, and walk in a park near the reservoir in Greensboro.
I really enjoyed my time with my CouchSurfing host Casey and her friends last night. CouchSurfers are so diverse, but there are these traits that I find common to so many of them: open-mindedness, enthusiasm, joy, generosity, trust, optimism, curiosity. My experience last night was no exception. I posted on facebook that, “I don’t think anything feels quite so much like ‘coming home’ for me as CouchSurfing.” It’s just that when I am staying with CSers like Casey, there’s this since of familiarity even though they’re strangers that I’m staying with, and I’ve never been in their home (and sometimes even city) before. Maybe because at this point in my life I’ve spent the night in the homes of probably 200 strangers and it just seems normal. Staying with CouchSurfers for me, is often like a reunion with an old friend.
Travel. Meeting new people. New places. It’s so invigorating and makes me feel so alive. No disappointments yet.
I have left the somewhat flat and straight roads of Georgia and the Carolinas and I’m now driving in the Appalachians in Virgina. I love it. I’ve also left the interstate, so I’m getting to see some of the communities that I’m driving through. The mountains are beautiful.
Well, should probably get back on the road. Not sure if I’m going to make it through D.C. before rush hour. If it starts before I get there, I’ll probably just pull over and chill until it has passed, and then head for Baltimore.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Monday, May 30, 2011
My Cup of Tea
“There’s an old analogy to a cup of tea. If you want to drink new tea you have to get rid of the old tea that’s in your cup, otherwise your cup just overflows and you get a wet mess. Your head is like that cup. It has a limited capacity and if you want to learn something about the world you should keep your head empty in order to learn it. It’s very easy to spend your whole life swishing old tea around in your cup thinking it’s great stuff because you’ve never really tried anything new…”
- From Lila by Robert M. Pirsig
I stopped for a cup of coffee this morning and something to eat after an hour or so of riding. I decided to get in a little bit of Pirsig in before going to my next stop. He’s so good for making me slow down, reflect, and evaluate. Take in the moment.
I really connect with the quote above. I have emptied my cup more or less a lot of times. Emptied my beliefs. Emptied my perspective. I’ve even tried to empty my language at times. It occurred to me that if you don’t empty your cup, not only can you not have another cup of tea, but you are also kept from trying some coffee — egg nog — cider — or whatever else you could put in that cup. And you might not ever even take the time to see if something else exists.
I’m about an hour or so outside of Charlotte. I have to pass through Charlotte to get to Greensboro. I’m having coffee or lunch with a CSer there in the afternoon, as my host will be getting into town later this evening.
I think I should work on getting up and on the road earlier to beat the heat. It feels like it’s going to be a hot ride today.
Emptied my stuff. — I got rid of a bunch of my belongings and junk before I left the rest at a friend’s house for the summer. I guess I don’t have that much– it all fit in my friend’s two door Honda Accord. But still, at least for a couple of months I don’t have to worry about my stuff. I’ve just got my motorcycle, and the contents of my backpack and my saddlebags. And I’ve emptied myself of all that other junk for a while and it makes me feel a little more free.
Well, time to get back on the road so I can beat some of the heat. At least I am heading north, so things should be getting cooler, theoretically.
- From Lila by Robert M. Pirsig
I stopped for a cup of coffee this morning and something to eat after an hour or so of riding. I decided to get in a little bit of Pirsig in before going to my next stop. He’s so good for making me slow down, reflect, and evaluate. Take in the moment.
I really connect with the quote above. I have emptied my cup more or less a lot of times. Emptied my beliefs. Emptied my perspective. I’ve even tried to empty my language at times. It occurred to me that if you don’t empty your cup, not only can you not have another cup of tea, but you are also kept from trying some coffee — egg nog — cider — or whatever else you could put in that cup. And you might not ever even take the time to see if something else exists.
I’m about an hour or so outside of Charlotte. I have to pass through Charlotte to get to Greensboro. I’m having coffee or lunch with a CSer there in the afternoon, as my host will be getting into town later this evening.
I think I should work on getting up and on the road earlier to beat the heat. It feels like it’s going to be a hot ride today.
Emptied my stuff. — I got rid of a bunch of my belongings and junk before I left the rest at a friend’s house for the summer. I guess I don’t have that much– it all fit in my friend’s two door Honda Accord. But still, at least for a couple of months I don’t have to worry about my stuff. I’ve just got my motorcycle, and the contents of my backpack and my saddlebags. And I’ve emptied myself of all that other junk for a while and it makes me feel a little more free.
Well, time to get back on the road so I can beat some of the heat. At least I am heading north, so things should be getting cooler, theoretically.
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