Friday afternoon

Ride, rest, repeat.

This was the rhythm of our 6 days.

Ride, rest, repeat.

For some, a well established rhythm.

For others, a rhythm of ages which never is lost.

For a few, a new rhythm to learn.

………………………..

After 6 repetitions of ride, rest, we need no more repeat.

We need new.

We need simple.

Shade, quiet, cool, beer and wine.

Dust and warmth and saltiness of skin.

Mixing with emotions excitement and sadness and joy.

Challenged in ourselves by physical manifestations of completion.

Exacerbated by self-generating demands to update, share, complete social media details.

……………………………….

In the dusty share we sat, banded and battle weary.

Glimpses of beauty seem mirages amid the aridity of our exhaustion.

Every story, the same and yet so different.

Same journey, embarcation and arrival.

Different experiences, some different routes.

Same end point.

Arid beauty.

Doubts remain.

Imposterism still a shadow in the corner.

………………………………..

Birds do sing a little by the river.

Water tumbles, more gently than many mountain torrents.

We settle, less tumbling of our bodies and minds also.

Communication is narrow.

Half sentences, unfinished, unintended.

Established groups, familiarities gathered together.

The gregarious are floating.

Sitting, trying to sit, uncertain of what to do.

As no need to ride again is new.

…………………………………

Beer and wine are cold, refreshing, swift.

Remaining lunch is engulfed.

Our days of solitude and comradeship exist, now, for ever.

Our fatigue, our conflicting emptiness and fullness.

Richness added to us, individual and collective.

In exchange for physical effort, we are uplifted in many dimensions.

………………………………..

Knowing nods, smiles, acknowledgement slowly emerge.

We rest. Only this is on repeat.

For now, for today, for the afternoon of Day 6.