My thoughts do tend towards "everything happens for a reason." I'm not so Pollyana-ish about it; I have a macabre belief that it's a matter of moments. Doubling back for your forgotten wallet keeps you from getting hit by a car. Maybe I just feel this way because I ride a bicycle.Which leads me to tonight's topic.
Today I started riding a drop handled racing bike for the first time. Since it's not my usual bike, it doesn't have the necessary flashing lights on it (white on the front, red in the back.) Riding an unfamiliar machine, I was nervous about biking after dark without giving warning to all the surrounding cars. At my urging, my roommate very kindly came by the store where I work and brought me a blinking red light.
When I left the store, a friend of mine from the adjoining ice cream joint gave me a white balloon. As he tied it to my handlebars I couldn't help thinking that it was an interesting replacement for my front light. I then biked for 10 minutes to a friend's house to watch the Celtics (lose the) game. Who knows what wonders that white balloon did for my safety? If it made even one driver double-take, then I was that much safer.
When I got to my friend's building, I untied the balloon with the intention of bringing it inside as a sort of gift. I still don't know how it happened, but string snapped above my grip and the balloon escaped up into the night. I was able to watch it for a full five minutes before I couldn't distinguish it from the stars. The experience was surprisingly lovely and reassuring.
No comments:
Post a Comment