Learning to appreciate - the past and the future

I’ve written before about my daily bike commute, but I thought I’d write again. I no longer get to ride in and out of Central London due to the fact that the house we rent is about 25 miles out. I could ride, but it is mostly highway and not a very pleasant ride. That being said, today I got up early and took my bike in on the train because I needed to run some errands around London. And bike is the only way to go.

At 7am this morning, I found myself riding down mostly empty London streets, past Hyde Park corner (where the soap box is), right by Buckingham Palace down the long road towards Trafalgar Square, then up to Piccadilly Circus and through Covent Garden on my way to work. It was a surreal ride, past all these great London sites just before the morning rush. I wish I could have taken it all in, but I was too pissed off at the Passport office to enjoy anything (that’s another story).

It is great to finally have Melia and the boys here. We are getting to know our community a bit, where the stores are, the parks and trails and certain hide-a-ways that every community has. We bought a car the other day – a Honda Accord – because with kids who want to play sports, we still need a car. The previous owner had put a total of 2000 miles on it the year before. He couldn’t believe me when I told him that last year I probably drove 15,000 miles. Anyways, our car gives us the freedom to take off on the weekends. I’ll be buying a ski rack for it soon so we can drive to Switzerland this winter. Yes, I brought my skis to England.

Despite our adventures – we miss home. I think we find ourselves still looking in the rear-view mirror a bit, hoping to see the Front Range. I’ve been here, albeit on and off, for almost 5 months now and I am feeling it more than Melia and the boys. I really miss the familiarity of what we know. I’ve traveled enough and understand enough about culture shock to know what I’m going through, but the bottom line is that I crave any communication I can get from our friends and family in Colorado and the USA. Every email or comment is like gold.

The problem with moving is the reality not only of starting a new chapter of life somewhere else, but realizing that the chapters of other peoples lives continue on without you. That is a difficult reality. I find myself wanting to turn back the pages.

That being said, I did for a second this morning appreciate this adventure. I’ve had some great moments in life on my bike. I was riding one year in Yosemite National Park when two bears crossed my path, just 25 yards in front of me. That was an epic moment. I’ve ridden along the Pacific Coast highway and I’ve ridden right into a herd of deer coming around a bend at Walker ranch in Colorado. Did I mention that this morning I rode my bike on an almost empty round-a-bout directly in front of Buckingham Palace? That is not a bad moment in life.