one way to enjoy the summer

My brother and I went out for a ride a while back. It was the first ride I had in years. He’s married now and rides with his wife. This time we did a bit of exploring. We followed the river so we could spot his wife out rowing with her team.

I like the feel of riding because you can’t really talk, you have to feel. Feel the balance. Feel the movement. Lean into a turn. Angle your head to avoid the crashing helmets. Anticipate a lane change. This time my brother started doing this strange ducking thing, where he would get into this uncomfortable hunched position behind the short windshield. Oh, I thought, I guess he’s doing this to lessen wind resistance. So, I duck also. After the ride we had this conversation.

Him: so did you like it when I ducked?
Me: sure. Wind resistance, huh.
Him: My wife likes it when I do that so that she can see the scenery better.
Me: ???!!!!

Isn’t my brother a really nice guy. This is just one of the many little things he does to help and love everyone. Too bad I was all stuck up in the mind of performance and commodity. I suppose the shirt he wore that day didn’t help get me out of that mode much. It didn’t say, “Smell the roses along the way.” Rather it was t-shirt from his bridge class project. It had four formulas on it one of them being the stress resistance of concrete and other structural engineering formulas.