“It’s the beauty within us that makes it possible for us to recognize the beauty around us. The question is not what you look at but what you see.”—Henry David Thoreau
It took me three days before getting my energy back from respiratory viral symptoms (not Covid) I contracted toward the last half of our two week vacation in Maui. Some friends said, they couldn’t tell I was sick from the photos I posted during our stay. My response is life is about balancing the joys and struggles that visit us—sometimes in the same day or during a much anticipated vacation.
The late Israeli poet Yehuda Amichai said we must “laugh and cry with the same eyes.” I call it non-judgmental awareness or accepting what is. It’s not always easy to do, but we do the best we can. Integration is the ability to hold two realities simultaneously. The truth is that holding both positive and negative experiences is possible.
It felt good getting back on my new Specialized Como Turbo. It rides like a dream. I had a new bike rack adaptor installed at Wheel Away Bicycling Center in Campbell to accommodate my utility bag to hold tools, snacks, and often times buy take out food for dinner or lunch for Cecile and I. The forecast called for rain and I was able to squeeze in just under 20 miles on the Los Gatos Creek Trail and Oak Meadow Park before the rain began. The varied cloud formation, flowing creeks, reservoir spillways, wooden bridges, and varied terrain kept things interesting.
