I took my bike out for a ride yesterday morning.
I like to say "I took it out" like it's a dog or a horse and indeed
it's become my companion most mornings...
An old friend, a bit rusty but hardy and dependable as it's always been.
It's the same bike I've had for about 25 years. I use this one instead of
my Dutch ladies bike for trail riding, much lighter and maneuverable.
As I trundle past the trees I'm reminded of a favourite poem...
'The Road Not Taken'
Robert Frost
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.
This poem has echoed in my head on many paths, in many woods, for many years.
An autumn morning, like most others have been...
...taking note of the signs of a turning season...
It's one of the reasons I come out here, to ground myself, to connect my
world with the earth....
The creatures...
Water, trees,
The minuscule world under my feet...
Even reflecting on mans footprint here in these 500 acre woods...
It's so quiet and, most times, I am totally alone here.
Today I ran into one woman and her dogs, chatted about bears and the weather.
I rode on, missing my past days with Griff by my side...
Feeling fine just the same though...still taking the road less travelled,
...it making all the difference.
