First Days

Betcha wish you had my wheels. She's a beauty with a combo of sky and baby blue shiny paint, new rims, and Shwinn in silver letters on her frame. She set me back only $75 this morning and in the twelve hours I've had her, she's been good to me. Today was my first day at work (Pier 1 Imports thank you very much) and I was closing. I knew I wouldn't get out of work until after the last bus home had left the area. I could have walked the 3.91 miles from work but a friend of a friend fixes up bikes and sells them for cheap. That's how I acquired Cheryl, my new wheels.

Now, I have to explain that I literally cannot remember the last time I was on an actual bicycle. I'm thinking Greenville, Texas when I was attending Travis Elementary and my bike had a banana seat and tassles (I was stylish even back then). Oh wait, I do occasionally ride the stationary bike at the gym. Nevertheless, we have the saying "It's like riding a bike" for a reason, right? Wrong! Whoever came up with that statement should be drawn and quartered.

First of all, it feels like someone dropped a H-bomb on my nether regions. Second of all, the only reason I escaped a gazillion catastrophic and potentially maiming events was my consistent mantra of "God is helping me. God is guiding me. God is protecting me, even though my crack is hanging out right now." Any innocent bystander would have thought I needed mental help. I had steering issues (i.e. off curbs and into traffic), braking issues (remember to put a foot down when you do that), gear issues (I couldn't seem to get the bike into certain gears), and overall form issues (the heel of my gimp foot kept knocking into the chains of the bike). In short, there were few things I actually did right, but by some miracle that includes mapquest I made it to work on time and in one piece.

On the way back, in addition to being dark it was raining. Coming home was a whole different adventure. It's all downhill on the way to work which means . . . You guessed it, all uphill coming back. While I did not happen to notice that I passed a prison on the way to work since I was entirely focused on staying alive, I did notice it on the way back. I noticed it because I was walking my bike up the sparsely lit hill. You might ask "Who walks a bike?" I'll be happy to tell you who. Someone whose legs have revolted in agony after standing for 8 hours, whose crotch feels like it just went nine rounds with Mike Tyson, and whose brain is too busy thinking about the ex-con that's going to jump out of the next bush! Needless to say, it was a two shower day. I was soaked to the bone when I got home and it wasn't the rain. FYI, drisilque and copious amounts of sweat are not the greatest combo.

I'm being ungrateful, though. It's an honest to God miracle I'm alive. No, truly. If you would have seen me today riding that bike, you would have no doubt that there is a God. Plus, I have Cheryl, a timely and wonderful gift that solved my transportation problem, and a job where I work with really nice people. More importantly, let's not forget the adventures along the way that make life more valuable. God definately finds ways to keep me religious and for that I am also grateful.

I also learned about myself. You really have to treasure those moments when you realize you can do it. I feel like I have to save them up for the days when my internal dialogue tells me I should move to loserville. So I'm glad today was one of those days when I get to say "I did what it took even though it was a risk and it was scary, and I'm proud of myself."

I'm with Helen Keller, "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing."