Nothing feels right. Oakley and I have loaded up our bikes and are heading off to Pineland Farms for some mountain biking. It should be fun, but rather than the heady feeling of adventure in the air there is a staleness, acridity. I don’t feel much like chatting. I am weary. Oakley thinks this is because I am annoyed with some of his recent antics, but it is not. It is because of all the ugly vitriol flooding the airwaves today.
Before I am any political affiliation or any nationality, I am a human, and it feels as if human decency is what we are losing, no matter who wins. I believe in empathy first and foremost. Empathy for everyone and everything, regardless of political affiliation. It is the only way to come together. Today, everything feels like it is coming apart.
When Oakley and I rode across the United States, I was struck by the lost towns in the high deserts of Wyoming and the hollows of Kentucky. There were trailers with broken windows held together with duct tape and yards full of plastic garbage. Yes, there was the stereotypical abundance of dogs, many seeming less than robust, but if you can’t fix your window so your house can stay warm, how can you afford a vet bill?
In Eastern Colorado and Kansas, it felt like there were more prisoners than local people and on the open plains, mono-crops were king. There were no sweet, small organic gardens, just acre upon acre of genetically modified milo-a kind of silage for cattle. Every so often we would come upon small towns that seemed to have been hubs of activity once, but now are windswept and deserted. Forgotten.
Despite all these thoughts, today, I try to focus on the adventure at hand, but when Oakley and I arrive at our destination, we are told that we can not ride. It happens to be Veterans’ Hunting Day at Pineland Farms and it wouldn’t be safe. In fact, we are reminded that really we shouldn’t mountain bike anywhere today because of hunting season. Nowhere is safe.
We shuffle back to the truck and I rack my brain for a new idea, but I haven’t got much energy. We settle on the Gray Animal Park-it is a zoo-like establishment for local animals that cannot be re-released into the wild due to accident and injury. We watch the cougars sit listlessly upon cut tree trunks in their display. Oakley is chased by a flock of flightless Canadian geese, hissing through their wide, pink, open mouths. We watch a coyote pace relentlessly in his enclosure. All these animals had the potential to be majestic if they had been given the right environment. If they had not been injured or abused. If scarcity had not been an issue. If they had been well cared for.
I think people have the ability to be majestic too. I have been criticized for being overly idealistic and naive. It is true, I am. I don’t mean to go on a political rant on Adventure Wednesday, but Adventure Wednesdays are all about hope to me; hope that we can find beauty, accept challenge, and discover our strength. On a day like today, I feel like I have to dig a little bit deeper to find it inside. I will though, and for that, I am lucky and privileged.
hang in bikemum! keep going. we are feeling some disillusionment, too. it covers me like someone throwing a bucket of cold water on me, every time i listen to news. that cold shock of water, every time. i think we press on, no matter what. hand me that luxurious turkish towel you have there, please. ah, thank you.
ur fan,
j.
ps: and 15million minks culled in denmark is so upsetting. more disillusionment. more folly-of-man killing defenseless innocent animals for profit.
My heart aches for what you endure because of your own very large and sensitive heart. I weep for the world you have inherited; for the hope you have lost; for the beauty you see and how hard it has become to clutch it. Despite the chaos and destructivenss and incivility that abound, may your idealism and faith remain strong for you…for all of us.
Thank you, Leah. Good words to read.
Thanks for the Wednesday comments. We don’t say lucky and privileged, we say blessed because we all are. Thanks also for recalling your big trips that took you and Oakley through states that are American, not red or blue. Stay healthy!
Thank you for your words today. They helped.
You and your family are an inspiration. I would have been in tears for the confined animals. Oh, woe. These are difficult times! We all have to do the best we can to overcome the “them and us” going on in our country. Add the fear of Covid. The isolation and masks and sanitizer. So hard. I want to hug my friends and invite them into my house. I took a ten mile bike ride (I am 80 and that is my distance goal) today and it really helped to lift my spirits. My dog was happy to see me when we got home and we took a walk.
Hi, Leah.
I completely relate to what you wrote about the vitriol on the airwaves. Healing won’t be instant, but hopefully we will begin to move in that direction soon. I plan to do my part.
I think spreading hope and kindness is the first step…which you seem to do effortlessly
I thank you and Oakley for reaching out actively. Keep on doing it!
Beautiful. Thank you! Yes, I deeply believe that what is happening, beyond Covid, beyond politics, is a profound spiritual crisis inviting us all to discover our majestic magnificence…our True Being…one of Pure Love. As divided as we are as a collective in this country and around the world, we all want the same things…Peace, Love, a world of compassion and freedom, a wrold where people have homes and food and livelihood…all the good and true and beautiful things. We are powerful beings and our Beliefs right now are more important than ever. Your Light is so deeply appreciated, Leah! May we stay in our hearts!
Thank you, Carol. Just keeping the faith in good.
Thank you for sharing your heart in such a beautiful and inspiring way. It is encouraging.
Thank you!