Motorcycle Trip 2018
I had never ridden my motorcycle in the rain this fast and for this long. Leaving behind a discordant mixture of sights and sounds, monstrous trucks would hurtle themselves by me on the highway; the moisture and wind trailing these steel comets would do their best to intermingle with my own meager bubble of particles. These dangers only served to accentuate an ever-growing sense of accomplishment. I was halfway to Atlanta, GA from St. Petersburg, FL. I did my best to pull off the road and wait for the rain to stop, but I found myself repeatedly riding into the same storm cell. I couldn’t afford to lose any more daylight, and if you think riding a motorcycle in the rain is difficult, let me be the first to tell you that it’s much more difficult at night.
I was overcome by a tremendous and formidable joy; the acute awareness of progressing into recently unknown territory brought on a rush of emotion that can only be obtained by accomplishing a lofty goal. With the attentiveness of a curious and happy child, free from care and forever emboldened to receive the present wisdom of the moment, I noticed an incandescent brilliance, one that can only be seen during the subliminal stillness of a sun-shower, dancing on the leaves of thickly trunked trees littered along both sides of the highway.
Joy and suffering are often two sides of the same coin; just as one cannot be brave in the absence…
