July 20, 2016
Day 48 - Etna Green to Columbia City
Learning to walk again - -
I met my brother, Tom, for the day in Warsaw.
Warsaw, Indiana - not Warsaw, Poland. Thank you.
I didn't realize that my brother, my sister, and I
have all had to relearn to walk in the past few years.
Accidents, illness - - certainly not age.
For all of us, perhaps, it is a stubborn streak.
Despite pain, despite so-so medical support, we do it.
It's not fun, but the alternatives seem less fun.
Stubborn. I seem to be blessed with that quality.
For me, I had difficulty walking three years ago
following an episode of Guillain-Barre.
I had a number of stumbles and falls -
Including a bad one on Main Street that put me in a walker.
Two summer ago I biked a couple of hundred miles -
through sheer determination.
Last summer I made a thousand.
This summer it will be cross-country - more than three thousand.
Stubborn.
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So I only had about ten miles to get to Warsaw.
Early morning - but the traffic was much thicker than last evening.
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I chilled at the McDonalds until my brother arrived.
We hadn't seen each other in a couple of years,
So we had a lot of catching up to do.
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First we spent a couple of hours at the McDs.
Then we spent a couple of more hours at the public library.
Finally we topped it off with a couple of hours at the Subway.
All the time talking radical socio-political theory.
I'm sure the good citizens of Warsaw didn't know what to think.
(I think Warsaw has voted Republican since 1892.)
A few observations -
> Yes, the attacks in Nice were brutal and cowardly.
But no one says that about drone attacks that kill the innocent.
> Meanwhile, the real incomes for many Americans continue to decline.
Unions today bargain to avoid wage and benefit cuts.
What a far cry from two generations ago.
> Somehow, the rising tide has not lifted all boats.
Certainly not the rickety ones with holes in the bottom.
After an whole day together, Tom went back to Kentucky -
and I lit out for Columbia City - 25 miles in the twilight.
Back roads, best riding time.
When I got to town, I stopped at the police station.
Will called a minister and I had a place to camp for the night.
Learning to walk again.
Today's ride: 36 miles (58 km)
Total: 2,628 miles (4,229 km)
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