4.5.2011 Ride: Seeing Jeff Off

A very interesting day of varying emotions.  I woke early again, 4:20 and made the most of rising sooner than I wanted.  The early morning walk was beautiful even though the temperature had dropped to 32.  No wind, stars out and even the Milky Way was visible.  The Big Dipper sat in the upper western sky looking large and full.  In the east on the horizon and through the trees was a bright red glow.  Surely an aircraft.  But as I walked down the road, the light didn't move nor waver or blink.  Moving into a spot where it was no longer hidden by the trees, I could see that it was definitely stationary.  It was Venus, shining bright red as if it was a miniature sunrise.

Dinner last night with Jeff, Rachel and our neighbor John (Carol had class)

Appetizer

Dates, slitted down the middle and stuffed with Manchego cheese and celery sticks.
Strawberries

Main Course
Blackened salmon

Mashed cauliflower casserole.
Stir-fry carrots and green beans

Fruit bowl
Some mighty fine wine (thank you, John)

Breakfast this morning

Homemade hash browns
Homemade waffles
Eggs over easy
Bacon
Nuclear coffee (Jeff's description)

After a detour to bring Lupe back home, we managed to push off by 9:30.  Jeff planned to make it to a campground near Jay, OK and I was going to escort him through Fayetteville and to the western outskirts of Tontitown.  We drove to downtown Fayetteville yesterday afternoon and I thought following the bike trail around Lake Fayetteville would nicely round out his Fayetteville experience.  Jeff was not disappointed and duly impressed by the trail.  He said that it reminded him of the trails in Switzerland where he said I would be in bike heaven.  When he described the dedicated, well-marked bike trails that crisscrossed through the country, I was ready to hop on a plane and spend the summer there.  Of course, that presented a slight dilemma for me as I would probably end up missing a day of bike riding traveling there and back.  Hmm.  There is of course the other small matter that it is very expensive in Switzerland.  Well, the daydream was fun while it lasted.

I ended up riding about 24 miles out with Jeff.  We stopped on the quiet country road, a couple of hundred yards shy of Hwy 412, sat and had a snack before parting ways.  We had met less than 24 hours ago but we had developed a strong bond and it was sad to watch Jeff ride off.

I hadn't taken any pictures on the way out and I wasn't sure if I felt like taking any on the way back.  But shortly after leaving Jeff, I came across this WELCOME sign on a house that was made out of horse shoes.  It made me smile and gave me my photo subject for the rest of the ride: objects that said "Welcome into my world."  It seemed to be a fitting way to say goodbye to Jeff and the idea, the hunt, lifted my emotions.

I'm not quite sure how these clouds fitted the bill.  There was something about their length and wispy look, particularly the blown back curl on the upper left end.

This bull stands atop a sign welcoming folks to the Rocking Chair Ranch.

The can itself doesn't say "Welcome," but the story behind it does.  It was the last few miles of my return trip home and I just turned off Skillern onto Old Wire.  A white haired woman lowered herself from a riding mower and walked with some difficulty towards an object on the ground.  I realized as she was picking up the can that I hadn't picked up my one litter piece of the day.  I pulled alongside her mower just as she was hobbling back to it and I quickly explained why I would take the can.  Rather than look at me strangely, she smiled broadly and readily handed the can over to me, telling me that she had the nickname "litterbird" or some such in 8th grade because she was always picking up trash.  That impressed me as that had to be about 60-65 years ago when people thought nothing of tossing a bottle out of their car window.  I thought about asking to take her picture but the moment was too precious and I was enjoying the easy going little micro-relationship we were having.  She definitely had a very welcoming smile.

Have a very safe journey, my friend.

Today's Ride:  4hrs. 24mins.  45.17 miles.  42-68 degrees.  20mph wind.  Miles YTD:  1,760.08