MOTOR-OSOPHY LIFE ON TWO WHEELS ROBERT HUNT A BOND AMONG US My day started off badly. This story is being penned from a mildew infested home caused by a
gushing dishwasher which imploded earlier this morning. The dishwasher ejected about 100 gallons of water into our home before we caught the issue. Our downstairs is partially gutted as I write. The ugliness of the day began at 7am this morning, I lost 70 photos of my last ride which I needed for an upcoming editorial deadline. Then Sometime during the day, my smart phone fell out of my pocket while riding my motorcycle and was never seen again. Individually none of these events are life ending problems, but all these situations happening simultaneously was a punch in the gut. Once I finally got the water loss mitigated, I took the opportunity to get on my cycle to burn off some negative energy. I headed north towards one of my most favorite rural routes to let my mind escape from reality. While on my cycle, all the issues of the day became a disappearing mist. As I followed the Platt River down a curvy road, I noticed a vibrant shade of green shimmering from a grove of Aspen. The color emanating from the trees looked as if a million emeralds were radiating wondrous points of lights in all directions. The majestic scene level set my negative demeanor, and I immediately began to focus on how good I had it, instead of the problem filled day which proceeded my ride. After about an hour of riding, I stopped off on the side of the road to watch the sun set behind the mountains. As I sat on the dirt road a Cattle Truck passed me. It stopped at an intersection about 10 yards from my motorcycle. The truck was waiting for traffic to die down so I had an opportunity to observe the cows trapped inside the trailer. One beast just gazed at me with these huge eyes for what seemed an eternity. As I observed the eyes of that cow, I noticed pure confusion mixed with fear. The look upon this creatures’ face was a miserable sight. His body twitched with anxiety as he huddled together with other petrified animals for mutual comfort. I am a hard-core meat-eating veteran but the sight made me sad. The cow was trapped in this trailer and had no freedom of movement or ability to choose; it was smart enough to realize that he no longer had any control over his own agency and this misery was profoundly seen through the fear shown in his own persona. As the truck pulled away, I thought to myself that I am so grateful for the freedom to choose my own path. “The freedom of the open road”, is an old cliché expressing why motorcyclist love to ride. I never liked that saying because it tends to be overused and played out. Seeing that cattle trailer made me think of how fortunate I am to be sitting on my motorcycle with the ability to choose whatever path I yearn to take. How many individuals out there have lost their ability to choose or have never had a choice to begin with. We live in a country where freedom is our birthright; many others do not enjoy the rights we take advantage of every day. With freedom comes responsibility and poor choices can lead to a restriction of one’s freedoms. As our ability to choose diminishes, our ceiling to find happiness proportionately reduces as well. One can never be truly happy unless they have had September/October 2017
31
