What's possible

I'm riding home just West of Gnadenfeld when a vehicle passes, then slows, pulls over ahead of me, and stops - signals flashing and driver's arm out waving. I pull up. It's R, a former student. One I'd remember and recognize anywhere. Not just because she's named after a great Fleetwood Mac song. She's so much herself that she can't be anything but recognizable. We talk for a while. She's got kids (boys) and one of them is wailing in the back seat. As she says, "He's in a car seat so he doesn't know why the car isn't moving." Fair enough.

We have a good conversation. A good start. She's moved back to A-town with her family, though the car's still sporting BC plates. After Nash has made it clear that he's not going to settle down, I say good bye and pedal off. She passes me again too. As I finish the ride home I understand again what a gift it is to be in an occupation where you can get to know people in a way that you might otherwise have never had the chance. She's  almost 30 now and at about the same place we were at that age. When she was in school though, all bets were off. Some of her teachers back in the day might be surprised about how she's managing now. To be fair, it was/is school.

As I've said before, school doesn't always work. What can always work though, are people and their drive to get along. To relate and to interact and to help and to care and to love. Believe it or not school is absolutely rich with opportunities to be human. The system can be a drag, but it's the tension and pressure that it applies to people that can make for really interesting interactions. When people are working at being good people within this inadequate system, wonderful people and relationships can result. It's not a sure thing, but it's possible.

Ride report
in:         12'C wind SW 10 ks
out:       27'C wind S 15 ks