I finally got out onto the dirt roads after a week of inclement weather. We experienced four days of 100+ temperatures with high winds. It felt like a blast furnace. When it wasn’t windy and hot, it was raining, but I will never complain about the rain. We need every drop we can get here in the High Desert.
Temperature swings are big here, too. It’s not unusual to wake up in the morning and need a hoodie for coffee on the patio, with temps in the high 50ºs, then see a 100º+ by early afternoon. So, summer riding is often an early morning, sunrise endeavor, and I was a little behind schedule this morning, shoving off at around 6:30.
The wheat harvest is in full swing right now, so I was expecting some traffic on the dirt roads, but it was peaceful. This is the busiest time of year for the gravel roads of the high plains as millions of acres of wheat are harvested and sent to market, but I guess I beat the rush this morning because I saw a total of two farmers in over 20 miles of riding.
I saw several combines, grain carts, and 18-wheelers parked at the edge of uncut fields, ready for crews to get to work, but I was back home enjoying a second cup of coffee before any of them arrived. There were plenty of horses, cows, hawks, falcons, kites, antelopes, and rabbits to keep me company, though.
As I was experiencing the powerful peace of a beautiful morning out on the dirt roads with the sun on the horizon, uninvited thoughts streamed into my mind like they sometimes do in the magnificent solitude that only nature can provide. Where do they come from? Why are they here, stealing my peace? Did I invite them?
- “No Kings” Protests
- Curfews
- Declining Birth Rates
- Bird Flu (H5N1)
- Turbo Cancer Tsunami
- Giant Hyperbolic Space Rock
- Big Beautiful Bill
- Deteriorating Labor Market
- World War III
- Isreal bombs Iran
- Iran bombs Isreal
- Trump bombs Iran
- Regime Change
- Russia bombs Ukraine
- Ukraine bombs Russia
- Regime Change
- Nuclear War
- Society is doomed!
Then I look around at the resplendent golden wheat fields ready for harvest and the achingly beautiful, vast blue sky stretching to the horizon. I can’t see any of the thoughts that stream through my mind with my eyes; the thoughts are mind intruders, narratives promulgated by a digital control apparatus.
Perhaps, I did invite them, in a roundabout way. I have always been a news junkie, devouring a long list of news feeds every morning over coffee. It’s an addictive behavior, like smoking. I don’t know how many times I stopped and started using tobacco products before I was able to get the monkey off my back for good, but it was a lot.
I’ve quit the news several times, too, but I’m still fighting with that demon, even though I know it’s not news, it’s just a battle of narratives. Like a football game in a giant stadium filled with fanatics screaming and yelling for their team, faces painted with team colors. I gave up paying attention to pro sports a decade ago, too, except for cycling; I love the Tour de France.
The war of words on social media and in the news is doing nothing for me. It causes stress and keeps me from completely enjoying the beauty that surrounds me. It’s not like I can fix any of it, and I don’t have a team in the game, so while crunching gravel on this magnificent morning, I have decided to quit the news again. so If someone wins World War III, please send me an SMS and let me know.
