Back on the bike!
It has been many a turn of the planet around the sun, but I have Schwinned it up and gotten a bike for my body and a helmet for my head.
The bike is a real treasure. It is a sophisticated 21 speed mountain/street affair with a great right and left hand transmission and on- and off-road capabilities.
It is all aluminum and the welds are still showing - a touch of pride in workmanship. The frame is light and tough.
The gears are smooth and the seat, with a few adjustments, have bonded to my parts.
My helmet is solid and has a light that can flash - letting people know that my big head needs room to cruise on by.
The leg and back muscles were happy to press and stretch and the air felt grand striking my face. I didn't catch any gnats on my bright teeth, so that was a good outing.
There is a rack for my Coke bottle and a rack for a camera.
I just don't leave home without one.
My truck cameras vary from 1 to three. I may carry only the ancient half-frame treasure that is a great rangefinder product. I may carry the Canon EOS Elan IIe because it is tough and has all the features of most pro cameras. Then, I may carry the digital - but with more care than for the film cameras.
That camera is fabulous because all the Asahi, Nikon and Tamron lenses fit the body using adapters. I shoot in manual mode anyway, so that is no bother.
Bike travel will change my pictures because it will change my perspective.
Pace, angle, perspective and time - all will affect the way I see and feel things and that affects the photos.
As I do on most Memorial days I walked the grounds of Raleigh's National Cemetery and then Historic Oakwood Cemetery. As a pastor I was the officiant at burials for many veterans at the National Cemetery and always tried to do justice with my words and prayers to their sacrifice and memory.
One of the burials over which I officiated was a veteran of the Spanish American War. He was a grand Christian gentleman, aged 94 when he died, and 18 when he was serving in the US Navy. Two years after his death, we returned to the same spot for the internment of his wife. He and she are together in the same grave and their names are on opposite sides of the grave marker. They are together in heaven.
Historic Oakwood Cemetery is a Raleigh treasure that will pull, twist and turn your mind and emotions.
There is history there. The old and some new monuments are wonderfully hewn of beautiful stone. The trees in the park are living sentinels among the graves.
Sunlight breaking through them strikes the tops and faces of the markers and the lettering comes alive with names and dates and brief stories about the people buried beneath.
There are some elegant memorials and some graves that have been relocated from road or building construction. In Oakwood, the old and the new blend seamlessly.
On one little curve is another Johnson family from another era. The mother and father lived long, full lives. They had two children who died in infancy. They had a son who lived long enough to be killed at a vicious battle in New Guinea during WWII. How heavy the hearts of those parents must have been as they carried their son to join the two little ones already in that cold ground. I pray that they were people of faith and that they are reunited in Glory.
These things you don't see while just "passing by".
I'll bet many people in Oakwood have never walked the cemetery and most folk in the RTP area don't know we have a National Cemetery.
My grandfather used to tell me that I would get "Thoughty" at times. He understood me. He encouraged me to write things down that I was feeling and I did. It has helped me many times to help weigh through some thick thinking.
Maybe getting back on my bike will put fresh air on my face and whistle some through my brain.
Maybe I won't get run over by someone in a hurry to get to the newly reopened Krispy Kreme while the HOT NOW light is on.
Watch out for me. I'll be the guy on the aluminum bike wearing a silver helmet, light flashing, pumping with dandy looking legs (not in Spandex) and probably having a thoughty smile. © tim www.timjohnsonphoto.com
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