Today's post is a somewhat random collection of thoughts and musings that came to me while I was out riding this morning...
Let me begin by saying that it's been a while (quite a while, if I'm totally honest) since I was out on my bike. I was afraid that I would really suck wind today, but thankfully, I didn't. In fact, the ride felt amazing and I fell in love with riding all over again!
On my very first lap I saw a dilapidated shack, someone's home, that was decorated with garland for Christmas. How have I missed seeing that shack? Yet, there it was, decorated and even the dirt in front of it was swept clean of trash.
I saw a group of about 8-10 vultures in the median and knew that they were gnawing on something. That something turned out to be a dead dog. My guess is that it got hit by a car. It hadn't been there too long, but it was long enough for rigor to set in. Is rigor a prerequisite for the vultures?
Fireworks stands are starting to appear. This morning there were three of them set up in the lot that had the carnival about 6 or 7 weeks ago. They'll be there until after the New Year, since Christmas and New Year's are two of the biggest nights for fireworks and firecrackers here. Although, there are LOTS of lesser holidays and celebrations that call for firecrackers. That also explains why I'm hearing so many more firecrackers being shot off by the neighborhood kids.
While riding I saw two ladies burning trash in front of their homes. I guess they wanted to get it done early in the morning.
I was once again struck by the incredible beauty of this country. The mountains are stark, harsh, unforgiving, but majestic. And the people who eek out a living while living on those mountains are strong and proud.
Rules of the road are really just suggestions and mainly for sissies. People on bikes ride wherever they want. It doesn't really matter in which direction the cars are traveling, when you're on a bike, you ride: with traffic, against traffic, through traffic. It's all good.
Cars are not much better. Lane markings, if they exist, are followed optionally, as well. Two lane roads often become three, sometimes four lanes.
I noticed several Hondurans out jogging this morning, both men and women. Perhaps that's because there's a gym at the end of the boulevard.
Then I saw a couple walking together, holding hands. Not odd at all to see young people like that, but this couple was older, perhaps in their forties. (Determining age is particularly difficult here because the hard lives they lead causes many to age prematurely.)
All in all, it was a good morning. I'm glad I didn't succumb to the call of the snooze alarm (too much). At noon, I'm meeting Hermes, Eunice, and a few others for lunch. We're going to a Chinese restaurant that is right on the boulevard. I'll walk over there and then after lunch, go talk to the folks in the shop next door. I've been seriously thinking about buying a motorcycle, but just yesterday added a motor scooter to the mix. There's a shop next to where we're having lunch that sells scooters and 4-wheelers. I'll go check into the prices.
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