June 22 July 4, 2024
Summertime! I hope you are enjoying it.
Sometimes I think it is easy to get a bit lost in the daily grind or, as thrash band Anthrax might have put it: caught in a mosh.
What am I doing with my life? What are my priorities? These are questions that I probably should ask myself from time to time. Instead, I sometimes just feel like I’m being tossed wordlessly around upon the waves of circumstance. Here is a quotation that I recently viewed at the Library of Congress during my recent vacation to Washington DC:
Reading maketh a full man
Conference a ready man
And writing an exact man
Not only do I find this quote true, but also inspirational. I like to distill some of my experience into words to try to communicate some of the things I find to be true. It can be easy to describe what happened matter-of-factly, in a sequential order, but that’s not always as relatable as when you express your feelings, strange thoughts, and extravagant goals/delusions. Plus, as shown in this fresco, from time immemorial: the ladies love the writers.
So I will try to use that preface as a guiding star as I relate to you many of the things that I’ve been fortunate enough to experience lately.
Before moving on to the vacation to our nation’s capital, let me regale you with a story of a charity ride I went on lately called “Bike with Mike, Walk with Mae.” This event took place on June 1 out on the Wabash Trace Trail. It was a fundraiser for mental health awareness via the local nonprofit Community Alliance. My uncle had purchased a couple of tickets but was unable to attend so he handed them off to me and I invited by stalwart companion, Rich, shown below fiercely improving his mental health.
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How is your mental health, these days? Good, I hope. It can be a stressful world and probably the best way to deal with the stress is to get out on some kind of a bicycle expedition. Also, I think it’s good to talk about and channel your feelings instead of suppressing them. If no one wants to hear about your feelings, you can always write them down and/or let me know about them. Although they can be inconvenient and we might want to ignore them for pragmatic reasons, feelings drive our thoughts and actions in many ways so it’s best to at least try to have a vague understanding of our feelings and others’ feelings so that we can try to help ourselves by talking to someone and help others avoid unhealthy actions fueled by feelings we can’t come to terms with by ourselves. Unfortunately Mike and Mae died due to suicide. I met a woman who had attended school with both of them and had been a part of the event since its inception 4 years ago. The event has grown by leaps and bounds since it started and this particular event was well attended and organized. There was even a special speaker, Sam Eaton, who had written a book about mental health entitled Recklessly Alive: What My Suicide Attempt Taught Me About God and Living Life to the Fullest. We started out at the trailhead for the Wabash Trace Trail at Council Bluffs and rode out to Tobey Jack’s in Mineola (i.e., same route as Taco Ride) where many festivities were had and a build-your-own taco bar was enjoyed by all participants, or at least all the ones I talked to. There were many raffle prizes, drinks, Sam Eaton, and a live band. The weather was great and Rich and I enjoyed it thoroughly. Don’t worry, I kept the shirt, but did remember to send my uncle a thank you letter.
And now, back to our trip to DC. Rich was there too! (to provide continuity and stability, among his many other talents). My friend Tyler showed Rich and I around town.
Tyler is an aficionado of the Capital Bikeshare system. And now, so am I. The three of us quickly formed a bicycle gang,
hopped on some bikes and cruised around town and accomplished many things, some of which were:
- told CVS we needed a prescription
- went to another CVS because the first one didn’t have the prescription
- got some drinks and appetizers at a nice local watering hole while waiting for prescription
- experienced a spiritual encounter with the rare/potentially sacred albino/leucistic squirrel of the capital area
- stopped at Supreme Courthouse
- stopped at the tired U.S. Grant statue
- stopped at the Round Robin Bar at the Willard Hotel (intriguing architecture - my stroll to the bathroom felt a bit like a trip through a fun house hall)
- stopped at VUE Rooftop at Hotel Washington
- ride by of the Watergate Hotel, which was larger than I would have expected.
- felt awesome about riding around so much
- ate Mrs. Snot’s leftover chicken wrap from Subway even though I normally subsist on a vegetarian / pescatarian meal plan
At the Round Robin bar I drank my first, and possibly last, Manhattan.
The drinks were served in chilled glasses and were delicious. I felt instantly more cultured, sophisticated, and generous (granted those aren't my best attributes to begin with). I might make it my last Manhattan because I’m guessing they’re normally not usually quite as exquisite. The Round Robin is reportedly the bar where all presidents-elect, except Trump, met up with the current presidents (i.e., predecessor) to have a drink and for the predecessor to share some insider tips/wisdom with the president-elect.
Here is a view from the VUE Rooftop bar at Hotel Washington where they had some delicious drinks as well.
I had a “That Tea is so Fetch” (Strawberry infused gin, bergamot, hibiscus, lemon, vegan foamer, and Peychaud’s bitters [because no one else’s bitters are nearly so bitter]) and Rich seemed to enjoy his Power to the Peaches (Grey Goose Botanicals, Cointreau, Chandon Garden Spritz, chamomile, honey, and lemon). Ye Gods! I felt like I got an injection of pure and uplifting B-12 vitamin along with my buzz! Tyler had an IPA (why does he drink those things? They taste kind of good but they tend to leave me feeling bloated and, eventually, kind of hazy and hung over). No offense Tyler! Thank you for the tour! That was a night to remember!
Further details about my DC experience: Nice bike share! I rode around a lot. Unfortunately I got kind of overconfident and eventually I dropped my cell phone and didn’t realize it until I had ridden a couple more blocks. Fortunately a kind soul found it quickly and eventually was able to return it to Tyler, who kindly drove out to pick it up from the Wunder Garten for me. I made it to Tyler’s place for a dinner party but I have to say I was even more socially awkward than usual because:
- My confidence level was reduced due to losing cell phone (I should be able to keep track of that thing!)
- Everyone at the dinner party knew each other and DC culture so I didn’t always have much to contribute (I learned a bit about DC Gogo music).
- Despite my self-critique, all the partiers were quite jovial, I had a great time, and I wish I could have gotten to know them all a little better (maybe in smaller groups).
To prevent the dropped cell phone experience, if I ever take a similar vacation I plan on investing in some kind of strap-to-handlebar phone holder, possibly like this one:
After our time in DC, we rented a car and drove for about an hour to the northwest where we enjoyed a beautiful stay in the tranquil hamlet of Lovettsville, VA, that included a nice hike up to Maryland Heights
at Harpers Ferry with my cousin-in-law and Calvin.
I don’t like either the word [hike] or the thing. People ought to saunter in the mountains – not ‘hike!’ Do you know the origin of that word saunter? It’s a beautiful word. Away back in the middle ages people used to go on pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and when people in the villages through which they passed asked where they were going they would reply, ‘A la sainte terre’, ‘To the Holy Land.’ And so they became known as sainte-terre-ers or saunterers. Now these mountains are our Holy Land, and we ought to saunter through them reverently, not ‘hike’ through them.
John Muir as accounted by Albert W. Palmer in “The Mountain Trail and Its Message” (1911)
After enjoying the peace and rejuvenation of Lovettsville and its environs, we headed out to the Jersey shore to get in some quality beach time at Wildwood, NJ. I rolled the dice with an Airbnb which turned out to be quite nice. It even had a few bikes in the garage. The beach was not too crowded and we ate a lot of food. I spent a lot of festive time with my college friend Pat and his friend Sarah. It turned out that Sarah grew up in DC. We talked about music from DC, including Fugazi, Bad Brains, and a band that I was not heretofore acquainted with: The Blackbyrds. Famous for their slice of life song: Rock Creek Park. Sarah estimated that 75 to 95% of individuals who grew up in the DC area lost their virginity at RCP. Pat generously supplied me with a patch that allowed me to drink more but feel less drunk and hungover. Maybe we could have just drank less? Easy to type now, not so easy to do when you’re experiencing a BEACH PARTAY VACATION!
Pat also recommended creatine to help build some muscle mass now that we're both quinquagenerians.
Seems like a great idea, especially with my vegetarian tendencies. Thanks Pat!
To get to Wildwood I initially planned on taking a train/bus combo to get there from DC. I thought about getting this booked early, but it wasn’t that easy so I figured I’d just buy tickets at the train station. However, this turned out to be logistically problematic and more expensive than I would have liked. So we ended up renting a car at somewhat elevated prices, but it was still less expensive and a lot faster than train/bussing it. And, as it turned out, it was kind of nice having the car around to get some grocery shopping done. Sorry public transport, not impressed in this area. If only the Double Dutch Bus ran from DC to Wildwood.
One unfortunate thing I noticed in DC: Google Maps sometimes seemed confused as to which quadrant of the city I was headed. Once it tried to autofill a Massachusetts St NW address when I wanted to get to Massachusetts St NE. Maybe it was worse because my phone was on low power mode? Don’t worry, it eventually all worked out alright.
So now we are back home and back to doing our regular stuff. However, I feel my mental health levels have improved and I've "recharged the batteries" as they often say. I hope your summer is going well and that you are able to enjoy a nice vacation or at least some quality relaxation with some reading, conference, and/or writing.
Pedals to the people!
-BSO
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