An Afternoon Escape

My black steed was calling to me all morning after the teasingly short ride into work today. The weather is perfect, partly cloudy and 54 degrees. I lock my computer, walk out of work with riding gear in hand with a big smile on my face...I don't know where I'm headed, but I know I'll enjoy the getting there. I have to eat some lunch, and thankfully I know that I have some leftovers in the fridge, so I move it home to inhale some food, throw in my liner to the jacket and throw my leg over her again. She's purring and I feel good. We run as fast as we can out of the normal stomping grounds to find unknown destinations.

Though we only have a little more than a half an hour to run wild, every minute stretches when you are experiencing new areas and every squiggle in the road is at least fifteen minutes long as far as enjoying it goes. The wind is blowing, the trees are losing their grasp on their summer leaves as they skitter across the roadway in front of us. My little black beastie is tugging at the reigns...running full stride down the hills and flying back up them, and I swear I hear a smile in her breathing.

Adventure strikes at the most unexpected times. We slow to check out a park entrance sign, and gallop up the hill, only to find a dead end on a single lane road that on either side is either 75 percent grade towards the heavens or straight down. Now she's not a big girl, but turning her around in such confined quarters can be trying. We give it our best efforts, but end up stuck against curb and a fall. It's a good thing she's got grippy feet and a lighter weight. We pop over the curb, climbing steadily up the steepish beginning of the incline and slowly turn her around as she's grabbing at anything to keep her hold. Hind legs jump the curb and finally we're facing the way we came. Daddy's sweating like a whore in church and I know that I hear her smiling beneath me. In fact, I can't wipe the grin off of my face either. We roll down the hill, looking for where we went wrong. It was then, of course, I realize...we didn't go wrong at all. We had a short, afternoon adventure and it's what makes these moments memorable.