Spring Sha-wing From The Bike

I am writing this blog while riding on my new red bicycle somewhere around the edges of the BWI Airport. No, I don’t have a laptop. I just piled the whole computer onto the back of the bike and I am running a very long extension cord.

Since the warmer weather has hit, I’ve found it harder and harder to stay focused on anything other than daydreaming and being outside on the bike. As I pedal harder up this hill and the wind blows up the inseam of my sweat shorts, I realize that staying focused is not the only thing that I’m having a hard problem with. The wind blows against you no matter which way you ride around the BWI Trail and a lot of times it feels like you are getting hammered by huge waves of wind as you grip harder and pump furiously with your legs to get through it. It’s great fun, but only when it’s warm outside.

That’s how I lost my beard and hair, by the way. Yeah, one night last week I was just hanging out with a full beard and a hairy head. The next day I’m riding along on my bike and one of those HUGE waves of wind blew right at me, so I did what I always do. I held on tight, kept breathing and just kept pumping away at the pedals and suddenly I felt this strange shiver come over my body and especially my head. I didn’t pay it too much mind. Only, I was getting some strange looks from passersby as I continued to ride. When I got home, I realized that the wind had blown my hair and most of my beard completely away and it was all stuck inside in my helmet. It was kind of an uneven buzzcut. I guess the wind is not a very good barber. So, I had Bubala touch in it up a bit. I guess it was about time. I mean I can’t pretend to be a guy with hair on his head forever, can I?


As I’m riding along here, I’m catching up on a few other blogs. I noticed this one by a most excellent substitute blogger. It got me thinking about the perfect moment game. I came to know about this game through a film and a book called Swimming To Cambodia written by the late actor/monologist/writer Spalding Gray. (RIP) In the story, Spalding Gray tells about his experiences playing a minor part in the movie, The Killing Fields, shot in the Far East. Spalding’s part in the movie is shot early on. Only, instead of flying home after his scenes are filmed, he decides that he can’t leave until he has a perfect moment. That way, he could feel complete, and then he could go home. So, in my own life, I try to look for these perfect moments. The things that somehow stop the fleeting tick of the clock. Things that you can add to your memory banks and then move on. I have discovered that you have to be sort of a detective to discover these perfect moments though. They don’t just jump right out at you. They are little, often unnoticed things. But, if you happen to be sleuthing in just the right place at just the right time, these moments of perfection can be found.

Well, I am running out of extension cord, so I’m gonna head back home and drop this computer off and pick up my new piccolo snare drum. I’m going to put the drum on my bike next. I figure that it saves time to do as many things as you can at the same time. By attaching my snare drum to the bike, I’ll be able to beat off with my hands while pumping with my legs all the while searching for my perfect moment.