All of us must do that\u2026 or at least we should\u2026 at different points in our lives. No one of us is immune or exempt; however, sometimes we come up short and don\u2019t do the right thing. I wanted y\u2019all to know that I confronted a situation sort of like that today, but I did what had to be done\u2026 I took one for the team\u2026<\/p>\n
It all started as I was sitting out on the front porch this morning just as dawn was breaking\u2026 I was in between my first and second cup of elixir, that magical fluid that pulls us out of our sluggishness first thing upon awakening and nudges us towards full consciousness\u2026 I was no longer in the \u2018Beta state\u2019, but I wasn’t quite fully awake either\u2026 but almost.<\/p>\n
ALI, always sensitive to my mental state, knew the time would be right to hit me with a proposition\u2026 She really wanted to get out from under her cover and go stretch her\u2026 limbs, I guess\u2026 Anyway, she threw out an all too familiar plea, really, but it was couched more as a thoughtful, insightful, logical idea\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201cYou haven\u2019t shown any interest for several days in going for a spin,\u201d she clearly and unemotionally posited. \u201cYou haven\u2019t even seemed inclined to show any mercy or consideration towards me\u2026\u201d Then she hit me with the gut punch she knew would set me into motion\u2026 \u201cBut, what about all your pals who can\u2019t ride this day? What about them? Shouldn\u2019t we do this for them?\u201d She had me, and she knew it!<\/p>\n
I wrapped up my caffeine intake, jumped in the shower, even shaved off some two day old whiskers, then found a clean pair of boot socks\u2026 you know, the usual drill\u2026 Once outside I removed her cover, and I swear I heard her sigh\u2026 Next it was time to warm her up, and no surprise to anyone who knows her, she roared to life (I had topped off her tank before parking her last time\u2026)<\/p>\n
It wasn\u2019t until I\u2019d turned onto the road after pulling out of the driveway that I began to think about where we might go\u2026 Hmmm, breakfast sounds good\u2026 but where? Ummmm, BBQ sounds good too\u2026<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve already had BBQ two times in the last week, but hey\u2026 I was fortunate enough to have been borne into an infidel family, and that should be exploited to the max! Right? I mean, pig parts prepared in that special way are oh so good, and it\u2019s perfectly OK for me to dine on that without fear of clerical scolding or reprisal.<\/p>\n
I mean no offense to anyone who may not share my good fortune\u2026 I hope my intent and motivation today will carry more weight in your assessment of my actions than will that particular aspect of the deed itself\u2026 Anyway, I decided to go for some \u2018Q\u2019, and that\u2019s just the truth of the matter in plain words\u2026<\/p>\n
So, since I\u2019ve spent most of my life in \u2018heaven\u2019s waiting room\u2019, I am familiar with many, many fabulous purveyors of palate-pleasing pig parts thusly prepared, and any one of them would be a good choice. I surprisingly quickly got a hunch BBQ Bills in Chiefland would offer several advantages\u2026 besides the obvious one, of course, of them serving some pretty doggone good fare\u2026<\/p>\n
I could ride some of the back roads I used to ride once upon a time, and the distance would be a good stretch for \u2018all concerned\u2019\u2026 Our girl seemed to agree I was on to something here\u2026 By the time I\u2019d made that call, however, I\u2019d already gone far enough to preclude several options for heading that way, but no matter\u2026 There were still plenty of others\u2026<\/p>\n
I made the turn onto a familiar road on my north westerly trek, and just as I was feeling ALI become upright again, I heard some guy yell, \u201cHey old man!\u201d I looked over and spotted Eddie, TropicTraveler, grinning from ear to ear and waving, just as he was pulling onto this same road in a pick-up truck going the other way\u2026 I waved back at him\u2026 He kept going, so I did too\u2026<\/p>\n
Once out of the hustle and bustle of urban driving, I turned onto a road that is still one of the few remaining \u2018tunnels\u2019 through giant oak trees that grow together from each side and join branches over the road itself. There used to be many roads and lanes like that around here, but \u2018progress\u2019 has taken its toll on most of them\u2026 I\u2019d actually forgotten about this particular road, but happily I wound up on it anyway\u2026 \u2018Our bike\u2019 likes nostalgia stuff too, so she just purred right along\u2026<\/p>\n
Each time I approached an intersection, I vaguely remembered it and where the choices would lead, but I couldn\u2019t recall the majority of the road numbers or designations\u2026 No matter, we were just out being noble, so as long as we made it back in one piece, it would be OK\u2026<\/p>\n
BBQ Bills didn\u2019t have a full parking lot yet, so we happily pulled in and found a convenient space near the entrance\u2026 Looking good, I thought to myself\u2026 ALI just sighed again\u2026 She doesn\u2019t mind a bit when I stop like this, because she knows we aren\u2019t where we\u2019re going to eventually land, so more riding will soon be in store\u2026 It\u2019s all good to her.<\/p>\n
The food was just as good as I remembered it being, and the portions were more than ample. Since mom passed-on a couple of decades ago, I\u2019ve allowed myself to worry a lot less about the starving kids in other parts of the world, so I typically don\u2019t clean my plate anymore\u2026 I just eat \u2018til I\u2019m sated, then I stop\u2026 Oh well\u2026<\/p>\n
Back on the road again, and more back roads not ridden in a very long time\u2026 Dang! ALI girl sure had a marvelous idea this day!!! The ride home was nearly three times as long as the ride over, so my fanny was starting to send signals that one tank of gas would be enough for this outing\u2026<\/p>\n
We traveled 204 miles of blissful, easy riding through some very nice, rolling countryside, and we never ran into a single hick-up or boo-boo anywhere along the way. Even the few school buses we saw were going the other way, and none stopped in front us\u2026 Karma was most definitely giving a \u2018thumbs-up\u2019 to this venture!<\/p>\n
So, there you have it my friends\u2026 For all of you who wanted to ride today but couldn\u2019t, this scoot was for you\u2026 I hope you enjoyed it\u2026 ALI and I sure did!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
All of us must do that\u2026 or at least we should\u2026 at different points in our lives. No one of us is immune or exempt; however, sometimes we come up short and don\u2019t do the right thing. I wanted y\u2019all …<\/span> Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-838","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-meanderings-by-ddt-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=838"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":839,"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/838\/revisions\/839"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=838"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=838"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/willowinthewind.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=838"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}