Bicycle

The bicycle is the most civilized conveyance known to man. Other forms of transport grow daily more nightmarish. Only the bicycle remains pure in heart. ~Iris Murdoch, The Red and the Green
After just getting back from a short ride I begin to wonder "why do I like to ride so much",I believe there are many reasons. First of all I love hard work,I know I'm a sick man, but I do like to work hard. On my bike I can work as hard or as little as I want. Before I drove a "Pizza Wagon" for a living I worked as a carpenter, before that a roughneck, both very physically demanding jobs.
 Secondly I think I really enjoy the freedom I get on my bike, kinda like the "cowboy" part of me. I could never afford a horse so the bicycle is the next best thing, and I don't have to feed it or clean up after it. I can ride any trail  or street I want, and it is a fantastic way to enjoy the outdoors. I don't always want to "fire up" the pick up truck to go to town, so I ride there, to run my errands.

All in all I just enjoy my bicycle, the exercise, the freedom, the convenience, as the quote above says, it is pure in heart.

Be a Barnabas

In  the Bible, in Acts chapter 4 there is made mention of a man who is such an upbeat happy guy ( at least in my small imagination this how I picture him.)  that the Apostles called him Barnabas, (Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement), I dwell on this often. I mean wouldn't it be cool to be known as an Encourager, instead of always being discouraging, short, grouchy, or what ever. A lot of times I find myself being less than encouraging and I think to myself "I need to do better", from now on I am going to try harder to "be a Barnabas", I want to be an encouragement to others. Just a thought for the day, and a goal for living life more enjoyable.

Directions

As I make my daily deliveries in my "Chariot of Solitude" I was going to a place I had never been before. Not a problem I thought since I have an internal GPS in my brain. Well  as I approach this town I think surely there will be signs directing the road to the town I am looking for--Wrong.So after a couple attempts to find my way, my internal GPS seemed to be failing me at this time, I ask for directions. The man I asked was very helpful, although since I had never been to this town I had no idea where "Brants Bait Shop" used to be, this seemed to frustrate him a little. After about 15 minutes of instruction he finally got me a landmark I could see to make the correct turn, "all the junk" on the corner, take that road. I did and finally arrived at my destination. The "junk" ( pictured above) all metal art decor for the yard. Amazing the things you come across off the beaten path.

Just Starting

Since I always have thoughts I would like to share, or maybe just things I want to vent about I thought I would try this. I don't know where this will go, or what subjects we will visit. But as I sit here on this cool August afternoon I realize I should be outside instead of in front of my computer. So this is just a start more to follow later...