This past week was most assuredly one that was peppered with the full gamut of emotions! From staving off the decline of the physical me through a variety of activities, to the soul-enriching enjoyment of rekindling new and old friendships, to the heart-wrenching horrible news of illness besetting an old friend, it was akin to surfing the churning waves of the north side of Oahu or navigating the raging winds of a desert storm.
The beginning of the week started out well as Joyce and I found a few new trails in the Guelph area for some gorgeous walks and rides. One worthy of note centers around the trails that mirror the Speed River that runs southwest through the city from Guelph Lake down to the Eramosa River that runs east-west through the center of downtown. As we wound our way northeast toward the lake, we marvelled at the beauty of the green spaces that seem to have been at the forethought of Guelph's architects. The trail connects with the hiking/biking trails that are a part of the Guelph Lake Conservation Area, providing kilometres of forested beauty to enjoy. Communing with nature ALWAYS does our hearts well and this was no exception.
Building on the recreation theme, I was able to get out into the splendid countryside of Wellington/Halton counties surrounding the city for some fantastic bike rides. While I was astutely aware of the KM's I was riding, but it wasn't until I looked at the Strava feed that I realized how close I was to Cambridge or Acton or Fergus ... CRAZY! With the continuing money pit that is cycling, I chose to purchase a new headlight-taillight combo that were full of safety bells and whistles, so my 100 km ride on Wednesday was supposed to be the maiden voyage to test them out. After fuel/hydration stops in Rockwood and Fergus, I discovered in Arkell that my new taillight had disappeared somewhere between Barrie Hill and Arkell ... $50 down the drain! That should have been foreshadowing of what was to come later in the week!
Thursday proved to be epic swings in mood.
We pointed the new RAV4 northeast for an early morning commute to Barrie so that I could commiserate with my longtime buddy Ron Andrews about a project we have in the works for our commemorative goal post pieces. We enjoyed a wonderful catch-up that included seeing some of Ron's latest passion with woodworking and epoxy. After a brief visit with my mom, we raced out to Oro to join some BNC buddies with some golf, some beers, and some barbs, certainly not in equal amounts. The plan was for a midday tee-off at Shanty Bay GC to avoid the forecasted rain for the late afternoon, but 5 holes in, we were smacked upside our collective faces by a torrential downpour. Being football types and full of machismo, we soldiered on, steeling ourselves that it would blow over, but as the intensity increased, we abandoned all hope at the seventh hole. Our decision was punctuated with the piercing blast of the airhorn from the clubhouse signalling that the course was closing due to the weather event. Dragging our sopping wet selves to the car, we decided to laugh it all off and reconvene at Gary Hamilton's personal patio for some postgame banter and reconnecting. It was during the incredible munchies that Gary's wife Pam served up that the reports of a tornado touching down in south Barrie started to come in. This was one roller coaster day with peaks and valleys in ridiculous proportions! The day was capped off with a pleasant secondary visit with my mom before the long drive home back to Guelph. It was universally agreed that it was a crazy day and our hearts were full with concern over the tornado victims, but we were truly relieved that no one lost their life, while at the same time heartbroken by the devastation so many were going to have to contend with.
The end of the work week started out in glorious fashion with a terrific ride southeast to the fringes of Milton and back, but was set on it's head with a text from longtime friend Mike Schad with news that one of my good friends from those Queen's days was losing his battle with a life threatening illness. The bottom fell out as I stared in disbelief at the message on my phone. John was one of the toughest, strongest, and grittiest individuals I knew so it never entered my mind that he wouldn't better such a situation. The messages exchanged between all of us on the group chat about our shock and dismay were unsettling to say the least, but it then came to light that Mike had been "kicked in the teeth" by the pandemic with the passing of his father in the spring and being barred from crossing the border to console his mother and family. That bottomless void you develop in your soul when confronted with such piercing news was like a full power laser pointed directly at my gut.
Shocked only half covers it.
Which leads me to be sitting in my faithful rocker, legs up, laptop in a familiar position, spilling my guts across the electronic pages of this post. You really have to step back, take stock of the good in your life, and hug your loved ones tightly, offering a personal prayer to whatever power you believe in with thanks for all that you have received because life is fleeting and can change in a moments notice through the swirling behemoth of nature's fury or cellular malignancy ravaging a body from the inside.
God Bless you John.
Soldier on.
Always enjoy your blogs, Ports. Glad to hear that you're settling in down there too. Erin is another town that you should visit on your cycles. We often visit Hotham's Bakery, as a midway stop between here and my hometown of St. Thomas. Have seen plenty of cyclists there, especially on weekends.
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