Author: Neil Hanson

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A Candle in the Wind – Part 3

At it’s heart, the words and the imagery are so true. We often feel so important and permanent – as though much of the universe revolves around our giant ego. But really, each of us is no more than a flame burning atop to candle of our life.

This isn’t a bad thing. Well, I suppose it’s bad for our ego. But ignoring the ego for a minute, (and we know how that ego hates to be ignored…), it’s really a good way for me to see my life. Just a flame atop a candle.  Continue reading “A Candle in the Wind – Part 3”

Cycling Through The West – Towaoc to Durango

Day 15 – Towaoc to Durango

“Earth teach me quiet ~ as the grasses are still with new light.
Earth teach me suffering ~ as old stones suffer with memory.
Earth teach me humility ~ as blossoms are humble with beginning.
Earth teach me caring ~ as mothers nurture their young.
Earth teach me courage ~ as the tree that stands alone.
Earth teach me limitation ~ as the ant that crawls on the ground.
Earth teach me freedom ~ as the eagle that soars in the sky.
Earth teach me acceptance ~ as the leaves that die each fall.
Earth teach me renewal ~ as the seed that rises in the spring.
Earth teach me to forget myself ~ as melted snow forgets its life.
Earth teach me to remember kindness ~ as dry fields weep with rain.”
  ~ A Ute Prayer

 

We’re riding at early light on a cool morning. There’s actually a little wisp of fog now and again on the road this morning – something I haven’t seen since I left the Pacific coast. I can feel the moisture in the air as it hydrates the membranes of my lungs and sinuses. I’m surprised at just how good it feels.

Colorado isn’t a place known for moist air. When folks come out to visit us in Colorado, they usually complain about how dry the air is. But this morning, as I begin to climb back into my home state, I’m struck by how much more humid it is than the desert air I’ve been riding through for the last couple weeks.

I didn’t expect to feel a sense of “homecoming” yet, but I’m feeling it this morning. There’s active irrigation along this highway, so the fields are green and lush on both sides of us as we ride. The sprinklers are running, pouring water across the green that surrounds us, sparkling like fountains of gems in the early morning light. In the distance, the peaks of the Rockies are growing closer and closer with each mile. I’m back in my home state, and it feels good.

Our day today is a short one. We want to get to Durango early enough to do laundry, so we started early, though not as early as we might have if we had a long day. When we revised our route, we thought about planning a rest day along southern Colorado somewhere, but decided instead to just plan short days. Yesterday was our last long mileage day at about 108 miles, and today and tomorrow are both only about 60 miles. In our original schedule, today’s miles were the last 60 miles of a 146 mile day. I’m happy we changed, so I could enjoy this stretch of road early in the morning.

A cyclist’s perspective on the wildlife in an area is often a reflection of the dead stuff we see smashed on the road as we roll past it. This morning, the roadkill is reflective of a big change in habitat. I’m seeing possum and raccoon, as well as a snake now and again. The moist environment created by the irrigation supports a whole new community of critters. Continue reading “Cycling Through The West – Towaoc to Durango”

Wind in the Hackberry

The wind blew pretty hard a couple days ago as I sat in my treestand. The gentle rocking of the tree in the wind gave me a sense of security.

It’s not a particularly old tree – probably 30 or 40 years old would be my guess. In those years sitting on the edge of the Kansas prairie, it’s seen wind far greater than anything I’d want to sit through. It’s bent and swayed in the fury of winter blizzards and summer thunderstorms.

Though the wind felt big and strong the other evening, it was nothing compared to what my tree had seen in its lifetime, and knowing this made me feel particularly secure. As the tree swayed back and forth, creaking and groaning occasionally, I knew this flexibility was what made it strong. Rather than spending all it’s energy fighting the wind, it learned to use the wind to stretch and build a pliable strength. Roll with the breeze, bend with its fury.

It wasn’t a particularly good evening for hunting, as the wind made it unlikely I’d take many shots – the wind would make the flight of the arrow too unpredictable. But the gentle rocking ride was worth the time spent waiting for the wind to subside.

Eventually, it did indeed subside, and I watched the cover of a full-moon night slip over the quiet prairie in front of me, and the woods behind me. A doe came out and spent a little time in the meadow as darkness grew. A possum made his way noisily through the underbrush, and a couple raccoons squabbled briefly but loudly over some territory nearby. The songbirds tucked away one by one, and a beautiful sunset unfolded over my shoulder.

There was still enough breeze to carry the smell of a newly lit fire in a wood-stove somewhere upwind from me, as somebody settled in to enjoy a room warmed by a fire. It was past shooting light, but I was in no hurry to climb down out of my tree. I felt particularly good, and the bright full moon would light my walk back home.

Life was, indeed, quite good.

A Candle in the Wind – Part 2

Part 2 – Fragility

It’s mid-November, a time when I disappear into the woods for a while each year. First for several days on the western slope of the Rockies hunting elk with my son, then into the Kansas prairie for a couple weeks of hunting whitetail deer where the prairie and the timber meet.

Continue reading “A Candle in the Wind – Part 2”

Bicycling in the West – Kayenta to Towaoc

Bicycle Touring in the West – Day 14 – Kayenta to Towaoc

“Take a breath of the new dawn and make it a part of you.”
  ~ Hopi proverb

Today is a longer day for us, and we’re on the road before dawn. We’ve got a little over 107 miles to ride today, and if the wind’s not kind, it could be a long 107 miles. We feel confident that we’ll be able to find water every 25 or 30 miles, which puts our mind to ease that worse case, it’s just a long day.

At first we’re a little disappointed that we’re not on the road 30 minutes before we are because of the long day ahead of us. Riding east out of Kayenta, the landscape around us explodes into magical shapes and beautiful pre-dawn colors. As the sun washes across the mystical hills and rocks to our north, we stop often to take pictures of the breathtaking sunrise. By the time we’re 10 miles down the road, we realize how lucky we are that we didn’t leave earlier, or we would’ve missed a spectacular sunrise show.

Once again, I’m struck by just how much I treasure the early morning on a bicycle. The remainder of the day happens – sometimes good and sometimes less good. But dawn is universally spectacular, sometimes mind-numbingly so. This morning is one of those mind-numbingly beautiful mornings. Continue reading “Bicycling in the West – Kayenta to Towaoc”

Cycling Through the West – Tuba City to Kayena

Bicycling in the West – Day 13 – Tuba City to Kayenta

The desert flowers seemed to be in full bloom, and beautiful in the morning

 

 

 

“Time isn’t used, it’s experienced.”
~ Hopi Proverb

 

 

 

We’ve got an easy day ahead of us today – only 75 miles. Unless the wind is hard on us, we should get done in less than 8 hours. We take our time and enjoy breakfast, and meet some interesting folks as we’re walking out of Denny’s.

It’s a small group of folks – sounds like just 2 couples plus an extra person. They’ve got a truck with a trailer, and the trailer holds a couple of little Vespa-type scooters. The women ride the scooters along the highway, and the men follow along in the truck. When they get tired of “scooting”, the men pick them up and trailer the scooters. It’s a grand adventure for them. They’ve always wanted to take a trip like this along the highways of the Southwest. When they hit the high plains of Texas in a few days, they’ll just ride in the truck to avoid the heat.

I’m curious about why the little scooters rather than just everyone taking motorcycles? Well, a good part of the reason seems to be that the scooters are so much more fuel efficient. Plus, they’re cute. That’s important for sure… Continue reading “Cycling Through the West – Tuba City to Kayena”

A Candle In The Wind – Part 1

Part 1 – Risking

I was reading a book the other day, when this phrase struck me: “Life is like a candle in the wind”. Of course, it’s hard to say those words in my mind without hearing Elton John’s voice in the background. Nevertheless, the words stuck with me for several days, and have had the little brain cells scurrying around quite a bit.

Image from eraspark.com

Every step of every day, we’re surrounded by creation and destruction, birthing and dying. As I type these words, the last of the leaves have fallen from most of the trees here in Colorado – some of them wrenched off in the snowstorm we had last week. The air is full of that wonderful smell that autumn surrounds us with, as the high plains tuck themselves in for the winter.

A couple weeks ago, the birds were tearing through the seed in my feeders at a voracious rate, as those migrating south use my place as a fueling station. Some of those birds will make it, some won’t. Just yesterday there was a Goldfinch on the ground below the feeders. He seemed too exhausted to fly. When I went to him to try and lift him to the feeder so he could rest there and eat, he scurried beneath some Hyssop. I want to believe he’ll make it, but he might not.

Several weeks ago, when my brother and I were driving some back roads in Kansas, we came across a group of trees draped in butterflies – there must have been tens of thousands of them. I imagine they gather on the trees and rest until the right wind comes up, then they probably get up into the wind and let it blow them south. On the ground was the evidence that not all the butterflied would make it – the same wind that took their comrades south to safety would take the flame of life from a few.

We’re surrounded by flames of life. Each of us is just one of those flames. We like to think of ourselves as particularly special – flames that are more important that the millions of other flames around us.

But to be special, don’t we need to let the flame of our life burn openly and brightly, where it adds encouragement to those around us? And in doing so, we expose it to the wind that could blow it out in an instant. It’s the paradox of the Flame of Life – it’s meant to burn openly and brightly, which means it’s always at risk.

Failure’s Creative Juice

A niece recently posted something on Facebook that made it clear that she felt some failure in her life. I have no idea what the issue was – I haven’t really gotten into the commenting part of Facebook yet – I’m mostly a lurker. (I think that’s what they call us…) I suspect it was something small, like a grade on a test that was lower than she wanted, something like that.

The issue isn’t really important anyway – the important thing is the failure, and the need to celebrate it.

Sounds odd, I know, in this culture where we’ve tried so hard to make everything about winning at all costs, and measuring people by their perceived “successes”. But I really believe in failure as one of the most important components of a truly successful life. Surviving failure well and finding the creative power therein is a critical skill in moving “forward” in life. Continue reading “Failure’s Creative Juice”

Cycling Across The West – Sedona to Tuba City in Arizona

Bicycling Across the West
Day 12 – Sedona to Tuba City in Arizona

“What is life? It is the flash of a firefly in the night. It is the breath of a buffalo in the wintertime. It is the little shadow which runs across the grass and loses itself in the sunset.”
~ Crowfoot

Today I meet my friend Dave, and we complete the rest of the ride together. Our original plan was to meet at the Grand Canyon and ride from there. However, we’ve talked on the phone and changed our route a bit in response to concern over a section of road we were going to ride on. The road we’re concerned about is Highways 163 and 162 in Arizona and Utah, which takes us through Monument Valley. Dave’s experience on the road as he was driving down to his starting point was that it was very narrow, lots of curves, no shoulder, and lots of RVs.

We’re both fine with all of that – down to the RV part. My experience with the lack of safety and courtesy on the part of RV drivers so far on this trip has me pretty concerned about that section, and Dave feels the same way. So we modified our planned route, and I’m meeting Dave in Flagstaff this morning. From here, we’ll ride to Tuba City today. I’m clearly upset that we’re compelled – out of fear of our lives – to change our route because so many RV users are either incompetent or inconsiderate drivers. But it is what it is.

Riding through this upcoming section, the thing that makes bicycle trip routing difficult is the space between towns. There are only so many places where a motel exists, and we need to be able to fit a daily ride somewhat neatly between those spots. Our original plan, in fact, included a 140 mile day because of that difficulty. That’s a long day in the desert if the winds aren’t kind… Our new route keeps most of our days down to a little under 100 miles, though there’s one or two that go over 100 miles. Continue reading “Cycling Across The West – Sedona to Tuba City in Arizona”