On Top of Things

I wrote yesterday about being in the valley and hardly noticing the mountains that flank the towns and cities along the Susquehanna River because I'm so used to them being there, and today, on a random ride, I ended up atop one of those very peaks near Scranton, able to see clear across the valley to the mountain on the other side.

Though the sky looked ominous after church, I had the riding bug and I headed out on the scooter anyway, as usual not knowing where I was heading till I got to the turn that would determine the general area for the rest of the ride.  Once I found myself pointed in that particular direction I had a number of further choices to make that would dictate what would be the overall length of the ride, and I opted for a medium course.

 It was a ride a lot like life itself.  I had some idea of where I was going and knew where I wanted to end up, but I didn't know for certain if all of my turns were the right ones to get me there.   I did encounter about a mile's worth of sprinkles, but kept on going and hoped for the best.  The alternative would have been to pull over and pop up the umbrella I always carry just in case, but in six years I haven't had to do that yet.  Although I didn't necessarily take the most efficient roads to put me where I'd hoped to stop for a while, I did get to my destination at about the time I thought I'd arrive.

I'd commented yesterday that my days were numbered for being out and about on the bike wearing shorts and a tee shirt, and today, already, the proof was in the air.  I opted for long pants today, and a jacket that I took off for the pictures but wore while I was moving.  It was a little warm inside the jacket, but I knew that if I were to have taken it off I'd have been more cold than I was warm, so on it stayed.

On my way into Mass this morning, Father Mike asked me how school was going.  I told him that I wasn't going to answer that question because there was no readily available wood upon which to knock, but I did say that I was going to keep my fingers crossed, and my hands folded, and that he could figure it out from there.  I already have two weeks crossed off on the calendar which I keep behind my desk that shows all of the months till June.  Those two purple bars of Sharpie ink don't look like much, but I'm happy with them being there because I'm officially beyond crying that summer's over and heading full tilt into the rest of the year.  I have a number of great weekends to look forward to between now and Halloween, and as soon as I finish crossing those stepping stones, the first term will be over!