I usually end my writing with the same sentence: LIFE IS A JOURNEY...NOT A DESTINATION. The credit for this seven word statement goes to the band Aerosmith. It's a brief lyric halfway through their 1993 song, AMAZING. The phrase has always stuck in my head and I think it's appropriate because we never really know, for good or bad, what paths life has in store for us.
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| Tim Sindlinger, Dave Raymond, & Mark Lentz soaking in the view on our new favorite rock vista in Michaux State Forest. The view is astonishing! |
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| Mark Lentz showing me the view from these rocks northwest of Laurel Lake -- June 13, 2016 |
I think it's also safe to say that none of us are on exactly the same journey and for reasons that no one understands we get pulled in different directions. From my own experience, I know that I've chosen paths that differed from those of my friends thinking that, because of choices made, our paths would never cross again. It funny how our lives twist and turn and meander (kind of like the trails in Michaux)...eventually bringing people back together. Five years ago I'd have bet the bank that I wouldn't be mountain biking with Glenn and Mikey and Billy again. I would have told you that the idea of all of us (Tim, Mark, Glenn, Billy, Mikey, & Kristian) getting together for a ride would have been impossible. Too much had changed and we had all chosen paths that took our lives in very different directions.
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| Bill Graves, Mikey Nardelli (with a very appropriate biking shirt), Glenn Medice, & Dave Raymond enjoying Tom's Run Trail in Michaux State Forest -- July 5, 2016 |
Then I had to get all nostalgic and start writing the THE LEGEND OF THE WHITE SQUIRREL. I knew it would be difficult...because I knew how it ended: with the original group no longer together. But life's funny like that. I chose to write it at a time when all of us seem to be in a better place. A place where it became possible for our paths to, once again, come together. We've not all gotten out together at the same time yet...but it's actually beginning to happen! Two weeks ago, Timmy and I rode with Glenn for the first time in almost seven years. Last week Billy and Mikey joined us for a great time in Michaux. Today it was Mark and Tim and I. We just have to find a way to make it all come together (and that will surely be a great story to tell) but for now it's nice to be in a place where we are crossing paths again. Now we just have to find Kristian.
LIFE IS A JOURNEY...NOT A DESTINATION.
David A. Raymond -- July 12, 2016
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| Timmy wrecked today and...after making sure he wasn't hurt...I captured the moment. Glad to see a smile on his face! -- July 12, 2016 |