My ride from Roy’s Cabins, MS to Greenville, MS was short, fast, and completely uneventful. Strong tailwinds and level ground let me average 15.1 MPH. I finished the ride in just over an hour and a half 😀
I took a picture because I felt like I oughta.
After I was done riding and checked into my hotel, I hiked to the top of the levee, hoping to see the river. I got to see Lake Ferguson instead. But it looks kind of like a river so I count it as a win.
This post is short so I think that here is a good time to write about something that has been running through my mind for the last couple of weeks. Do you know the difference between a miracle and nature? When it happens once, it is a miracle. When it happens again, it is “just” nature.
We Jews have this little prayer, modeh ani. It is a first-thing-in-the-morning ritual for me, Thank you God for restoring my soul to me. Put more mundanely, I woke up again. I get another day. Yay and thank You!
Here is the piece that has been tumbling around in my head as I ride, wear myself out, eat, sleep, and do it all over again; day after day after day. Not only do I get my soul back every morning but my body heals every night. I do not “do” anything special. I just eat good food (never mind the grilled cheese and onion rings) and I go to sleep. By some miracle, I wake up refreshed every morning.
We could dive into the cellular mechanics of muscle repair. We could talk about biochemistry and oxygen, carbon dioxide, lactate, etc. We could envision this as energies marshalling to restore order. Regardless of how you frame it, I think that it is absolutely miraculous that my body actually does heal itself. Not only has it done so pretty reliably for almost 70 years, but it is so miraculously dependable that I make plans for the future, assuming that these daily miracles will keep happening.
However you see the universe, whether you believe in God or not, I hope that you can join me in appreciating the wonder of our own bodies.
You can read more of the posts about this trip, and see a map of this whole adventure, here: St. Louis to New Orleans.
I do a GLAD this every night. Grateful, Learned, Achieved, Delight, this tried to keep my mind in a positive frame when falling to sleep cause my thinking is usually stinky when left unattended. LOL
The solitude that includes communing with nature is the perfect setting for letting your mind wander. Thank you for sharing your wandering with us. You are reminding me that I need to be thankful for the ability to exercise, to eat properly, to make sure that this body of mine continues running smoothly and in an upward path, and to continue learning. Now that I am officially 82, more important than ever!
Art, Remind me to tell you about the conversations that Stan & I would have every morning & every night. Thank you, HaShem. Be well. Enjoy the simple pleasures. You missed some dicey weather in St. Louis yesterday. Winds up to 85 carried my cencrete planter from the front porch onto the driveway. What a mess. Thankfully, that was the only damage.