Friday, November 20, 2009

Little Talbot Island

I just recently completed a trip up the east coast of Florida from St. Augustine to Little Talbot Island, which is north of Jacksonville. The riding on AIA was incredibly beautiful through the Guana Tolomato Matanzas Reserve. The sight of coastal dunes, wind-gnarled oak trees and glimpses of the Atlantic Ocean were uplifting. Later, I had an entertaining conversation with a veteran motorcyclist as we crossed the St. Johns River by ferry at Mayport. The man, probably in his late-60s, ambled across the ferry deck to get a closer look at my bike. He revealed that a friend of his from Archer had one like it. The man told me he had been riding for over 40 years and keeps a Road Glide and a Valkyrie in his garage in Maryland. He and his wife travel in their motorhome, logging thousands of miles annually - true warriors of the road. They were visiting their son in Fort George. As a backroads traveler, I enjoy encounters like this. They create a sense of harmony with life. It is a sense that is all too frequently missing from modern living but I think it is just within our grasp if we are open to it. I also believe that when your heart is fully in any pursuit, the pursuit gives back by speaking to your heart in a language that it understands.