Yesterday
I had a few near misses on the road
For once I’m travelling in areas with high concentrations of traffic on the road
Yesterday was particularly intense
With people moving back and forth
From Australia’s long weekend
And I was winding down long long stretches of several mountain ranges
With someone always revving behind me in their car
I was doing the speed limit and being cautious on the bike
But someone is always revving in their car
So I would pull over when safe – let them go through then continue on till the next impatient person came along
So many impatient angry people
And I seemed to cross paths with
All of them
I had a few near misses
Things that instantly cloaked me in a waterfall of sweat
Threw adrenaline around my body like lightening
After one such incident I pulled into a town for a quiet breather
A
Coffee
A
Think
A strong drink
Would have been nice
And I craved steak
Meat
Veges
Comfort food from when I was a child
Solid food
Not ephemeral and light
Substance – I craved substance and I had been missing it for so long
Hadn’t realised it
Considering the morning and the odds of me making it to my destinstion unscathed by the roil and rant of the traffic around me
I thought
Stuff it and had the steak
It settled in my stomach like fortitude
Then a dry voice said “that was a long walk from over there”
It was the man adjacent
Eyes like starbursts
They almost got lost in wrinkles as he smiled
Frazzled beard
Kind
We talked for two hours
(Luckily it was his wife’s cafe)
Not about death or nerves
His own hand shook
Parkinson’s perhaps
I didn’t ask
There was no negativity in our long conversation
We talked about life
How it had changed
What was important
We talked about bikes
Why Harley riders didn’t wave
(He rode a Harley:)
We talked about the places that we’d been
Or he did
And I listened enraptured
He finally asked what about me?
I was feeling a bit down low
Unable to cope with how fast everyone was zooming around me
The human race
(And it literally seems a race at times)
Had humbled me
So I began to tell him a little in a mumbley tone
Of my favourite ride of late last year
A rambling long outback stretch
With no rubber neck
People
Just the sky
And the trees
And the endless road
“You rode all that – out there – on your own?”
I had been staring into space relating a tale of how small and vulnerable one feels riding beteeen towns
Three hours apart
In the heart
Of the Australian outback
Yet how free
How spacious life could be
I had been lost in a delicious reverie
I looked up
Saw respect
Felt it in my bones
From this kindred travelling soul
And it meant the world to me
I have no need for the liking of others much
People
Are
So
Very
Negotiable
You see I learnt a while ago that while some will be there when you’re sad
Few enjoy other’s happiness, triumphs, wonderful moments
Truly
Sincerely
I say this not bitterly just clearly
And
It put me on notice
When I chose to curate my life
To relish it
Make it happen just so
Like this and this
Well
It just pisses a lot of people off
So I’m quiet about what I do and where I am for the most part
To those that know me
Or think they do
So
There are only a few hearts with whom I share my happiness
My triumphs
My growth
It can get a little lonely sometimes
Which is always the downside of doing things differently
Being different
But It’s worth it
Later on the road
As the cars wizzed around me
The whole pointless human race
Raced and raced each other
I became certain
I could not be disturbed
From there on
Because in my heart
I now know
I carry the wisdom of crows
Isn’t it amazing the companionship we can find in stragers? Kindred spirits are everywhere but we rarely slow down long enough to find them. Lovely story, thank you for sharing.
More and more I am starting to interact with the people/strangers that cross my path, to slow down and notice because sometimes – quite a lot of the time actually – it leads me to insights that I never would have plus it is amazing how often a complete stranger will know someone I know – the world is much smaller than we think – nicer too 💙
Totally agree!💕
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Ravens have been talking to me lately, out here in the Mojave, and I’ve been talking to ants. kind of sort of telepathically. Even the little desert birds don’t fly away so soon, when they see me walking with my staff. Oh yeah, I like your writing. There’s nobody else to talk to, just this minute. I guess it’s morning where you are.
Afternoon now