Thursday, July 24, 2008

Long Shadows


During the school year my best riding times are in the evenings after dinner. It used to be that I had to gauge my time on the road by the setting of the sun because I didn't have the "M" on my license, and back then I knew that the longer my shadow ran the sooner I'd need to head back home. It seems that my best thinking happens when the sun's going down and at times I'd regret getting back to the house before I'd thought something through as far as I wanted to because as soon as I'd kill the engine the focus was gone. I was a philosophy major once upon a time and the best, deepest thinking is the kind that requires me to be in a zone. Riding, I discovered, puts my head in just the right place to ponder and contemplate under the surface while my conscious mind lends its attention to the important things like watching out for little old ladies pulling out of parking lots without seeing my approach.

The longer, summer evenings just aren't the same, somehow. That stolen time between the last bite of supper and the sun's fading wink during the other seasons was more special and more conducive to thinking. The rides are just as enjoyable now on July's balmy eves - maybe even more so. When it comes to spinning my cerebral gears, though, I suppose I'll just have to wait for those longer shadows to come 'round again to get any real traction.

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