I May Have Been Speeding

When you own this  there is always a chance you may be speeding.

So I was going to church the other day, riding along the interstate (no stoplights, which annoy me), and since I'm in the far left lane passing everyone (why is it no one drives the speed limit, I wonder to myself?) when all of a sudden a motorcycle roars by me on the right. No big deal, except the guy was riding a wheelie down the highway! Going faster than me, with t-shirt and jeans (he had a helmet), no handed (he's riding a wheelie what's the point?), steering by leaning, he finally drops down as the highway bends, and he vanishes into the muggy Omaha night. I have to say, that's not for me...but it was pretty cool.

(Yes, I wanted to take a picture, but I was driving...maybe he took a selfie? He wasn't using his hands for anything else.)

I mean this was impressive. He was almost vertical to the highway. He was literally standing straight up, and it looked like a unicycle going down the road...and the first thing I thought of? "Wow! If he falls that's gonna be gross." (I have officially turned into my mother.)

So this guy got me thinking about what it means to "live." Is living about finding what makes you feel alive? Or, is it about surviving day-to-day on the hope that every now and then something exciting will come your way? Or even, it might be about avoiding excitement at all costs, as that often leads to messes on the side of the road...better to drive the Toyota Camry at a reasonable speed so as not to take chances? What are the reasons you feel alive?

We're coming up on family reunion time. A lot of people find family as a reason for feeling alive. Some people find their work or career as a reason to feel alive. What makes me feel alive is meeting new people, hearing new stories, finding new roads to ride. What makes me feel most alive is that around the next corner, the next year, the next line at the grocery store may be my next favorite conversation. I am fascinated with the new and the next. Curiously, this does not apply to technology as all my friends who chide me for my Blackberry remind me...

He was just a guy driving his motorcycle down the road--albeit in a rather novel and dangerous way--but I was glad to be on the road to see it. Didn't change my life, didn't cause me to reconsider the Camaro for a Buell, or even make me wistfully remember my younger days...No, it was just a cool reminder that there's lots of ways to live, lots of ways to feel alive, and lots of reasons why priests should always be at random spots ready to administer last rites...you never know when God's going to need you...or who's going to pass you on the right.

May your tables be full, and your conversations be true.