Journey

A journey is a start and an end. The travel may be across the country or around a table or through a mind.

A birth is a start of a journey, a death an end.

Humans want to control everything, yet control little. What matters is relationships and how we affect and influence others.

This journey, I have been blessed with adventure, and many people who offered and expressed kindness.

People mostly want the same thing, some comfort and love. A good meal and a little respect.

I have joy and gratitude to all who helped make this part of my journey joyful.

ICHETUCKNEE SPRINGS

A day in the Southern Piney woods

on the porch of a log cabin

near a deep Spring

porch swing and

2 fine rocking chairs.

after a gray morning

and a bit of rain

the late afternoon

grew shadows

and warm sunshine.

Cazan Hotel

n the heart of Cajun country, Mamou La is known for Zydeco music, crayfish, and rice fields. In the center of town is the Cazan Hotel. Historical place and wonderful people. They want to make you feel at home.

Texas

MUDDY WATER

FILLS BORROW DITCHES

CREEKS OVERFLOW

FIELDS TO PONDS

SKY FAST MOVING

SHADES OF GRAY

HUMIDITY IS HIGH

BEEN 30 HOURS OF RAIN

5 DAYS IN TEXAS

7 DAYS OF RAIN

WINDS CHANGE

BUT ALWAYS BLOW

LOTS OF TRUCKS

NOW AND THEN A CAR

LOTS OF TEXAS FLAGS

A FEW SLAVE FLAGS

NOW AND THEN

STARS AND STRIPES.

Louisana

So, sitting in a diner eating breakfast in Louisana. The top story on the tv screen is that this state hit rock bottom with the lowest quality of life and worst state to live in. I can not argue with the roads, they are some of the worst I have ridden in the world. The drivers however are very courteous and friendly in narrow two lane roads with no shoulder they are patient and give ample room when passing. In this respect, some fine drivers.

South Eastern Texas

Riding Adventure Cycling Associations Southern Tier Route. Kirbyville United Methodist Church offers lodging, camping for bicyclists. Jim Strickland is your host.

On down the road, You run into Mechanical problems you cannot fix. Having a cell phone you call the nearest bike shop….60 miles away in Beaumont, Texas. You talk to the mechanic, Shelby at Bicycle Sports. We determine the problem but how to get the bike 60 miles down the road that is broken. Shelby has a friend Jim Bob driving a red Dodge diesel dually pickup truck who comes to the rescue.

Jim Bob get us to Kirbyville. Eric Bender the owner of Bicycle Sports in Beaumont drives up in his pick up truck and takes us to the bike shop. 3 hours later the bicycle is roadworthy again repairs are made thanks to the attention of Eric, Shelby, and Dayna.

All 3 talk of the joy of being out touring on a bicycle and that’s what bicycling is about and are hard pressed to charge what all their efforts and all that work is worth.

And then, to get back on route, host Jim in Kirbyville, and his friend with a truck, Bob, drive the 60 miles down to Beaumont to pick us and our bikes up and drive back the 60 miles.

Traveling you meet the finest people who are kind, helpful and give so much hope for the future. The world is not the news headlines. The world is people caring and sharing. I am full of gratitude.

Bicycle Riding on the Southern Tier Route

Pedal, pedal, pedal. Back roads with low traffic. Fields of grass. Hillsides of trees. Big thicket goes for miles. Miles of hills rolling to call it the hill country. A bicycle always makes me smile. Move slow to see and think. Enjoy the moment.

Texas has more rain than usual, 5 days of rain, flood warning. The creeks are overflowing. The fields are lakes. I am there to see it. The fog has been thick, mostly in the mornings. I am glad I have front and rear blinkers. I am happy that I wear bright clothes, as the trucks run fast here. And there is a car now and again.

Tomorrow I will ride along and pedal many circles. I will think about things and laugh and at the end of the day, I will be stiff. I will smile and look at the maps of what the future will bring. The maps will tell me a bit. The moment will be there for me.

Road Kill-Day 4 of the Ride or Die Tour….

Greetings from Texas!

Yes, it’s been a long while between posts. There have been trips, art shows, workshops and the flu….but this is our most ambitious bike tour and so it’s worth some dedicated sharing. I’ve found a new app that does more than this WordPress can do in regard to showing you our route. It’s also a really easy way for me to journal daily, so please explore the link below (then click on the map waypoints, and be sure to click on the cover thumbnail image for each waypoint to see additional images) request to follow, (it’s a private link) I’ll accept your request, and you can ride along with Nard and me to St Augustine, Florida!

Apparently Colorado cleans up road kill from their highways. In Texas that is left for the vultures and coyote. We pass dead cats, deer, possum, and a LOT of skunks. And an occasional armadillo.

Follow our ride at https://www.polarsteps.com/shearycloughsuiter/472197-the-ride-or-die-bike-tour?s=34e39f0a-23e5-4531-827f-3ba530fc24d3

Would love to hear your comments!

Public Land and National Monuments

 

America has a lot of public land set aside for wilderness, for recreation, for beauty, for animals. This is a uniquely American Idea to set aside a peace of beauty and if one believes in God Creating the World. Then  this setting aside is a monument to God’s Creation. Now we see the American Idea of preservation and monuments is not permanent. When a mining company says they would love to make money if only they had a national monument to destroy. And the powers that be said National Monument be damned there is money and profits to be made here. So Bears Ears and Escalante Grand Staircase National Monuments are going to transforms into an open pit mine to profit a few. Well maybe more than a few as some fine government officials had to grease the corruption lines and that only happens under the table exchanges. So there were profits to be made there also. It is an opaque government we have full of secrets, but secrets get out. This is the land that belongs to America and it’s citizens, taken from us.

Where does that leave me. I spend a lot of time painting, taking pictures, walking, biking, and camping on public land. When it is all fenced and belongs to corporations and individual Estates my life will change. And where does that leave the children and grandchildren. Oh they have overlords who keep them in line and working, working, working. Idle hands make no profits and therefore the work of the Devil.

Amsterdam Netherlands

A charming city which we visited in August and September of 2017.

This is a city of about 1.5 million in the urban area, but it is quiet and peaceful. People are not in a rush, people take time and talk to each other and make eye contact. The Netherlands has a higher standard of living than America but costs are similar to America. Everyone rides a bicycle and bicycles have the right of way. After WWII there were some deaths on the roads of cars hitting citizens and a plan was devised to correct the unacceptable deaths by cars. The country has many long range plans that focus resources.

There are a few exceptions: health care is considered a human right and there is no cost for care or medication. Education improves the country and the citizens so education if free, and in fact young people are paid to go to high school and college. In converstion to Dutch people they can not understand a system or society where health care and education is considered an arena for profit making: They are human rights not business.

The Netherlands are self sufficient and sustainable on food for the country, and are in fact the leader in exporting tomatoes. The nation sold their last oil Company as they move to renewable resources of wind and solar power to power the country forward. The trams, trains and some of the bicycles are electric. This makes for clean air and a quite city. So people can talk without shouting and sit in cafe’s and chat without interruption. I feel a sense of calm and peace.