Day 2 Branford CT to David’s Island NY

My parents were explorers. Not the kind of explorers that travel the globe or tackle great mountains.  They were weekend explorers.  They would pack their car with their favorite cheese knife, a bottle of wine, some stonewheat crackers, and paper maps.  With bicycles mounted in back they would travel New England.  From bike path to bike path they would explore every corner of the American Northeast.  My mother’s only stipulation would be that their tours include an ice cream shop.

As we leave CT and move towards NY I am in awe of the beautiful seaside buildings and beaches and pavilions that I never knew existed. It’s crazy that I have probably explored more of Arizona and Texas than my own backyard.  Tomorrow night we hope to anchor with a view of the Statue of Liberty.  I have lived here most of my life and have never seen her. 

It is kind of embarrassing to admit but I don’t think I am alone.  I think there are probably many of us missing out on the beauty around us by focusing on the idea of somewhere else being better.

About a week after my mom left this world I was out back on my farm aggressively mucking my goat stalls in an effort to focus on anything other than my broken heart.  As i lifted the fork to toss a great heap I saw my mother’s image leaning on a tree stump nearby.  I screamed and she was gone and I cried and then I laughed because I knew in my heart she was OK: She was wearing her black bike shorts, her white gym socks pulled high with back sneakers.  She leaned on the stump in a relaxed pose and the curls of her light brown hair moved in the breeze.  She was smiling.  She was missing her bike helmet and her bike but perhaps they were leaning against an ice cream shop storefront wherever she was now exploring.

I hope this trip is just the beginning of new life of exploration for us.  I hope I can enjoy the path and not focus on the future.  I hope I can be even half as wild as my parents.  And I hope they are both enjoying a trail together in their new world.  If I know them, they are.

Happy Birthday, Dad!