On the road you also hear stories that you might not slow down to hear if you weren’t on a bike. 

I slowed down to take a picture of the roadside stand and to talk to the man in the red shirt.  When he heard I was going to Maine, he said he met a man pushing a grocery cart who had come from Maine.  The man had tools and shovels and was working his way down the coast.  When I hear stories like this (remind me to tell you of some other’s I have heard), it makes me realize how easy I have it –cell phone, GPS, Computer, a great Co-Motion bike, etc…

Life is full of contrast. We go from “red shirts” to “camouflage shirts.”

I had a long conversation with Lee in the camouflage shirt and Raymond to learn more about the area.  Our grandson, Ryan, wrote last night on the blog that his class would follow the RIDE and study the States as I travel through them. 

While I am not a hunter, I enjoyed visiting with Lee.  He manages a 50-member hunt club that controls 11,000 acres where they hunt, deer, black bear, wild turkeys, and wild hogs.  I think wild hogs are like the chipmunks around our house.  I have trapped over 25 chipmunks in a season and moved them to a better playground, but Lee said he has caught over 250 wild hogs and transported them elsewhere.  When you think you have problems; more than likely, someone has bigger ones.  I think we have a deer problem in Illinois, but did you know (I am sure you did) that there were over 15,000 automobile accidences in Florida last year due to deer? The insurance industry helps lobbying efforts on behalf of the hunters, to increase the limits during the hunting season.

We are creatures of habit and creatures develop “our” habits.  Of the 11,000 acres in the hunting preserve, about 400 acres are planted for the wildlife.  And guess what they plant in the south for the deer and fowl?  Kale, collard greens, and purple top turnips.  If that is not a southern diet.

Yes, spring has sprung and we are getting ready for Easter. I saw this display on a detour off my route, which I rarely do.  Lee had told me about his friend Warren, with whom he used to hunt and fish. He died last year from ALS.  Lee’s story is a good lesson for all of us.  Before Warren was diagnosed they used to talk about the game they shot or the fish they caught.  As Warren’s disease progressed, Lee would drive by Warren’s house on the way to town and sometimes see Warren from a distance in his wheelchair.  Lee didn’t stop because he didn’t know what to say.  Months later Lee admitted his father into the hospital. And who was across the hall? Warren.  Lee got to visit with Warren an few time before his death.  The lesson for us is what Lee said. “Warren wasn’t any different –he was still Warren!”  Let’s not forget that sometimes peoples’ bodies let them down, but they still have the same heart and soul.  It may be awkward at first, but it is the right thing to do. Reach out…  Why was I on the detour?  I wanted to give Warren’s widow, Deloris a hug.  She wasn’t home, but hopefully my card in the door will strike her curiosity and she might call.

Note the roadside memorial.  I will show you a number of them as I did on the last RIDE.  Why you ask?  There are two messages “Drive Safely” and the other is more subtle.  Morrie Schwartz would say, “are you ready?”  Are we living with no regrets? Are we making the best of the rest…?

Sometimes it pays to cross over to the other side of the road.  This afternoon I was riding north on a divided four-lane highway with traffic going 65 miles an hour and no shoulders on either side.  Not fun!  I was trying to get this leg of the ride over as soon as possible, but a roadside stand on the other side of the highway caught my eye, so I maneuvered across the 4 lanes to meet Doris.  It was the pretty Easter dresses that caught my eye, but her story that caught my heart. 

If you don’t think we are riding for the right reasons, listen to this.  Doris lost her daughter to leukemia.  After she died, her son (Doris’s grandson) committed suicide because he missed his mother so much. The son had two children, only 18 months and 9 months old.  Their mother dropped the children off one evening for Doris to take care of and had a fatal automobile accident that evening.  This isn’t the end.  Five months after her daughter died of leukemia, her husband died of melanoma.  One week after that her sister died of a heart attack.  Ten months later her niece died of breast cancer.  Doris’s second husband was just diagnosed with squamous cell skin cancer and his ex-wife was diagnosed with brain cancer. Doris’s faith, pastor and friends have provided her with strength and a positive attitude. Amazing what one person has endured.

I have heard the saying, “it is no hide off of me,” but I crossed the road again to see whose hide is it off?  Another lesson  (good trivia question)– where do the best cowhides come from?
Georgia? Wrong.  Florida? Wrong.  Brazil? Correct, of course.  See what you can learn while on the road.  Mark, the man showing the hides is to send me his web address for all those interested in purchasing a hide.  Please tell him Bob sent you, since he said he would donate 25% of the sale to 3 Reasons.  Mark left me with this quote.  “Money doesn’t make me cook. The Lord makes me cook!”

Speaking of cooking, this man’s engine over cooked.  I stopped to see if I could give him a tow, or push, or lift.  When he looked at my bike he declined all offers.  Some times the big engines can’t keep up with the pedal power.

Tonight I am in Folkston, GA staying at the Folkston House, a lovely B&B. After I told the owner about the RIDE she said, “be our guest.”  At times people will say to me, “Aren’t you worried, there are a lot of crazy people out there.”  Maybe there are, but I certainly didn’t meet any of them today, just the opposite.  Yes, life if full of opposites and contrast, advice and lessons, shoulders and no shoulders, but just to have Life is a special gift.

Note the sign of the front of the truck:

Tomorrow we will have another lesson.  Question. Where is one of the largest traffic hubs of freight trains in our nation?  If I forget to tell you, please ask. It is fun to learn something new each day.

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