Alone Never Lonely

The bare naked branches reaching up towards the clear blue sky.  The trees stretching their arms long and tall after their winter nap.  Rested, but hungry.  Starving for light energy as their buds begin to burgeon.  Awakening.  Rebirth.  A recurrent occurrence every single year, but still so very mystical when we pause to witness it unfold.  Sunday morning was one of those mornings that you long for towards the end of a long winter.  Warm sun embrace.  Calm and quiet winds.  Loud songbirds.  A spring kickoff jamboree of sorts.  I could just sense that this was going to be a gravel lottery winning ride day.  I concentrated on this strong gut feeling as I was getting ready to start pedaling.  The loop mapped out in my head, I set out towards Sackville.  Craving my warm tea and Larabar snack, I remembered seeing a sign for a rest area when I was riding through last year.  The Beech Hill park is a really nice spot.  Bigger than I expected with a small trail network.  It was well worth the slight detour.  Lying flat on my back on the picnic table bench, face to the gleaming sun, I meditated for about 20 minutes.  The silence intermittently broken by the occasional passing truck on the nearby highway.  A fly landed on my hand and walked around for a bit.  It may even have been a bee?  I didn’t look or move.  I just let it do its thing while I did mine.  The gentle breeze caressing my cheek.  My soul soothed by nature’s mercy in that moment.  I felt a very deep peace settle inside of me as I became more me.  I didn’t want to leave.  The life inside of me invigorated by the life surrounding me.  All one.  Timeless.  Limitless.  Startled by a family walking by, I awoke from my holy nap.  Energized, and lightly caffeinated, I rode back.  Over 3 hours on quiet, mostly gravel roads.  Over 3 hours of pure dusty flow.  Over 3 hours alone.  Never lonely.  Social distancing?!  Yeah, it isn’t all that bad on magical days like these.  Stay safe everyone.