ABIDE WITH ME
We had a 68 mile ride today from WOLF LAKE, MI to CLARE, MI---a lovely little Irish town with a stately hotel, The Doherty, where we will rest our heads tonight. Michigan roads are a little confusing, the ones we traveled on all had names relating to mileage. We started on 4 mile road, then got on 3 mile road. Later, we hit 14 mile road and then changed to 15.5 mile road. It was confusing, and had nothing to do with how far we were going! Michigan smells good, though---and we are seeing a lot of deer. We are excited, because our friends, Laurel and Doug Hill are driving up to meet us for dinner. We met them on our very first bike trip----I had never met another "Laurel", and when I met her I felt it was kismet that we should be friends. If I predecease her, she is in line to get all my monogrammed items. All of them go back to junior high school, though, so I'm not too worried about her offing me for my "Laurel" button purse, pewter barrettes, or laundry bag. Laurel is a writer, and a witty and insightful woman, I'm looking forward to hearing what she's been up to lately.
We didn't have a lot of services today, and when we hit a small town at 11:30 we decided to break/brake for lunch and wait til the library opened at noon. Lunch was the same old same old, a squished peanut butter sandwich and a hostess chocolate cupcake. When the librarian opened the library, I went in and asked her if I could use the Internet to check my e-mail. "NO!" she told me. "Absolutely not!" The library has internet access, and a public computer---but the board passed a rule that no one could check e-mail under any circumstance. I looked at her, with my puzzled look, and tried to make sense of the policy. Now, she isn't operating on a real high wattage light bulb, and she told me that the policy was to protect the teenagers of rural Michigan from sexual predators who might e-mail them at the library. I've been in a lot of libraries in my time, and dozens on this trip. Every other library has a release that parents of minors sign. But, that's beside the point. I told her I still wanted to use the Internet, but she couldn't get the computer up and online. But I could. And it wasn't long before I was READING my e-mail. Not "checking it", which I understood was against the rules, but simply reading it. UNFORTUNATELY, the watchful librarian began the lumbering waddle to my right shoulder, where she shouted, "YOU'RE NOT CHECKING YOUR E-MAIL ARE YOU?" and although she could see the screen, and the message I was reading from my father, I stared at the screen and replied, "No. I'm not checking my e-mail" and she said, "GOOD. BECAUSE YOU CAN'T". I've heard a lot of funny questions on this journey, but her questions were bizarre. Like, she said, "Well, I guess you must have stopped somewhere while riding cross country." and I said, "What do you mean?" and she said, "You must have stopped sometime." and I said, "Well, this is our eighth week on the road, and we pretty much make a point of stopping every day...." and she just kept at it. I didn't get it.
So, Mel's mass and reception were today at noon in Texas at the St. Patrick's Cathedral. I planned to take a minute at noon CST to play "ABIDE WITH ME" by the Thelonious Monk septet on my iPod in his memory. He would have liked the Monk part, and I like the "ABIDE WITH ME" part. Right around noon, CST, we had gone 35 miles and I felt a sudden and sharp ice pick like stab in my left knee. It vexed me for 7 miles, and I couldn't shake the pain. I asked Kami if she thought I was being punished for lying to Yvonne, who I still can't believe is a librarian. Kami assured me that it was more likely loose cartilege than a punishment from God. I finally listened to ABIDE WITH ME, and for the last 26 miles felt just fine.
It's almost time to meet Laurel and Doug, so I'll close for now. Tomorrow has us headed off in the general direction of Bay City (I think). GO LANCE!!!
We didn't have a lot of services today, and when we hit a small town at 11:30 we decided to break/brake for lunch and wait til the library opened at noon. Lunch was the same old same old, a squished peanut butter sandwich and a hostess chocolate cupcake. When the librarian opened the library, I went in and asked her if I could use the Internet to check my e-mail. "NO!" she told me. "Absolutely not!" The library has internet access, and a public computer---but the board passed a rule that no one could check e-mail under any circumstance. I looked at her, with my puzzled look, and tried to make sense of the policy. Now, she isn't operating on a real high wattage light bulb, and she told me that the policy was to protect the teenagers of rural Michigan from sexual predators who might e-mail them at the library. I've been in a lot of libraries in my time, and dozens on this trip. Every other library has a release that parents of minors sign. But, that's beside the point. I told her I still wanted to use the Internet, but she couldn't get the computer up and online. But I could. And it wasn't long before I was READING my e-mail. Not "checking it", which I understood was against the rules, but simply reading it. UNFORTUNATELY, the watchful librarian began the lumbering waddle to my right shoulder, where she shouted, "YOU'RE NOT CHECKING YOUR E-MAIL ARE YOU?" and although she could see the screen, and the message I was reading from my father, I stared at the screen and replied, "No. I'm not checking my e-mail" and she said, "GOOD. BECAUSE YOU CAN'T". I've heard a lot of funny questions on this journey, but her questions were bizarre. Like, she said, "Well, I guess you must have stopped somewhere while riding cross country." and I said, "What do you mean?" and she said, "You must have stopped sometime." and I said, "Well, this is our eighth week on the road, and we pretty much make a point of stopping every day...." and she just kept at it. I didn't get it.
So, Mel's mass and reception were today at noon in Texas at the St. Patrick's Cathedral. I planned to take a minute at noon CST to play "ABIDE WITH ME" by the Thelonious Monk septet on my iPod in his memory. He would have liked the Monk part, and I like the "ABIDE WITH ME" part. Right around noon, CST, we had gone 35 miles and I felt a sudden and sharp ice pick like stab in my left knee. It vexed me for 7 miles, and I couldn't shake the pain. I asked Kami if she thought I was being punished for lying to Yvonne, who I still can't believe is a librarian. Kami assured me that it was more likely loose cartilege than a punishment from God. I finally listened to ABIDE WITH ME, and for the last 26 miles felt just fine.
It's almost time to meet Laurel and Doug, so I'll close for now. Tomorrow has us headed off in the general direction of Bay City (I think). GO LANCE!!!
posted by Laurel @ 4:35 PM
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