spokedust

Nitro Life

In high school, to juice up a car - you'd have a switch to cut over over to Nitro fuel. I don't think I ever rode in a car with this but every movie or TV show I saw had a tense moment, escaped by "switch to Nitro" and ZOOM. While I didn't drive nitrous, I did like to ride my bike down Filmore St. hill. This was the longest hill within 5 miles of my house. The descent could have been 3-400 feet over a quarter mile at best. Not much altitude change - but this was the midwest. I'd climb that hill (or sneak up the backside via 56th st.) and accelerate into the downhill. Hunched over the handlebars, I'd pedal the cranks in my highest gear. After coasting as far as Cedar Lake Road on a good day, I'd check the cyclometer - Max Speed = ??? On a good day I'd hit 40. I may have even broken 40mph a couple times

The thing about going fast is that the details of the route become a blur. Whatever is on the side of the road, flashes by. Instead of knowing your place & interacting with the surroundings, the sensory experience is on the buzz, blur, wind in your face. At best you hope not to hit an oncoming car (Filmore had a blind turn, taking the inside lane picked up at least .3 mph)

Coming into Spring, the local plants are bursting into bloom all over the place. Trees covered with blossoms shed petal storms in spring windbursts. Our neighbor's "lightly" pruned apple trees are flower sticks. This year, our unplanned project was a front yard expansion. After our concrete contractor friend's dire assessment of our driveway retaining wall, we've poured concrete and dumptruck loads of dirt into a new front yard. This project wasn't something I'd been planning for a couple years but eh. A good number of sidebenefits have come of it. My wife has jumped whole hog into owning the plant-scape around our house. Not one to do anything half-heinie, she's checked out every plant book in the Seattle public library (really). I now receive a botany education on our neighborhood walks while our neighbors receive a "critique "on their yards.

(where's he going you might wonder now, a paragraph on speed, spring, & his garden? ) Here comes the synthesis - those three themes reflect my state of mind somewhat right now. Life is full of interests, activities, and concerns. Everyone has them. But right now, my garden is spring in bloom. 3 young children are my sprouts all in different stages of their climbing vine lives. My work at Amazon is budding into broader concerns of how to delight customers with ever cheaper processes. (I love my job). Church is full of change in people and perspective - where will God take this group? All of this adds up to a rate of growth that is blurring the sidelines right now.

As a single man or even young married, there was more time to plan the big picture. Lay out the direction I'd like the plants to go - a nasturtium there, rosemary here. But as plants grow, you can prune, transplant, water but the growth will occur in the manner of the plant. I'd love to sit back at my desk and map out our family's activities against our desired values. Lay out a "plan" for the next 3 months -(I'm a bit AR, planning gives me an illusion of control) Right now, the best I can do is hunch down over the bars, listen for cars, and crank.

posted by bikenomad @ 8:55 PM