Life is a State of Mind

Both cats are sleeping, I am trying to cool down from a grueling hot bike ride up Bull Run Mountain and back down. If you are outside for long, be sure to drink plenty of water and wear sunblock.

Subject says it! Today was gorgeous. Cool, clear air, lots of sunshine, clean smell to the air. Perfect day to meet neighbors and do a little more bicycle canvassing for the Commonwealth Coalition’s Vote NO campaign on my recumbent. I went out early this afternoon and came in only when it got a bit dusk and dangerous to be on an unlit bike.

Highlights today: lots of really nice neighbors, most of them see right through the bigotry of this proposed amendment. Did a little catching up with Joe and Anna who I have not seen in a while, and plan to visit their church with them to learn more about their faith. Met another recumbent cyclist who also trains guide dogs for blind and otherwise disabled people; he’s also a volunteer poll worker and recently gotten involved in voting process.

One man was very filled with hatred and loathing for homosexuals and told me I was going to hell for even taking the issue of people’s rights to the voters! He was basically alone though. Today I only met three households in favor of the amendment, and nearly 40 against it. Most people are unwilling to commit either way but promise to read up on it and vote their minds.

Everyone (except the very angry guy) was very glad for my non-partisan sample ballot with the full text of all three amendments and all three Prince William County bond issues. Hopefully the one guy will calm down and learn compassion for others, until then he goes on the do not bother him list.

aenloo, I am sorry I did not remember to call until I was already well through today’s list. I’ll call ahead next time.

The weather was so nice that I had to get out on my recumbent to canvass the neighborhood for the Commonwealth Coalition some more. It was a bittersweet day of canvassing. Friday, before heading to York, PA for a wedding I placed “popsicle” yard signs on my own property: one for Judy Feder, and one for Jim Webb. They were gone this morning when I got back from York. Someone stole the signs from my property, and it happened on my tiny little street that is a cul-de-sac with no exit. Sad.

My neighbor says he saw them around 9 pm Friday, but they were gone around 9 am on Saturday - so someone came and took them during the night. Sigh.

I covered about five more streets with canvassing, and most people I talked to said they were against the amendment that writes discrimination into the state constitution; but there were several very closed minded people who are so upset by the concept of gay marriage that they refuse to thing this legislation through. One woman told me to get lost because she was voting Republican party line no matter what happened. Disturbing. I understand leaning to one party or another, but not even bothering to look at the candidates and issues really shocks me. I did get positive comments on my Pandak shirt, and that is encouraging. Thanks to Mayor Ernie for the shirt! I also continue to get more interest in what I am saying because people are curious about the recumbent bicycle.

My resolve to do everything in my power to open people’s minds and hearts to have compassion for those around them is firmer than ever, but I feel drained now.

I’ve been driving the new Prius a lot and in general I love the thing, but I have a first complaint and suggestion.

This thing needs a relatively quiet, alternate horn in addition to the normal load one it has for emergencies.

Several times now I have nearly run over pedestrians when driving around parking lots looking for a space. What happens is that said pedestrian will be walking along in a straight line, and I will come up the path behind them slowly and the Prius has invariably shut off the gas engine because it does not need it any more. What I keep failing to realize is that said pedestrian cannot hear any engine noise and does not realize I am there at all! Often the pedestrian, without looking, suddenly darts out across the traffic lane which they assume is empty, and I need to brake suddenly to avoid a squishing.

It’s not really their fault, cars have made noise their entire lives; the sudden appearance of a near silent one takes getting used to. It’s not my fault, I am going very slow in parking lots (as evidenced by the complete shutdown of the gas motor).

I used to have similar situations while riding my bicycle in parking lots, but on the bike I can simply talk out loud or give mild warnings like “coming up on your left” which alert the walker of a risk without causing them to panic (like a sudden loud horn toot). In a my car, this is less instinctive; it does not occur to me quickly to talk out loud… and I don’t want to annoy anyone with the loud horn.

Prius needs a small rattle on the grill, or a quieter horn alternate…

I suppose this will fix itself when the heat of summer kicks in and running the A/C forces the motor to stay on and make the car just a little noisier.

BTW - so far, 50.7mpg is my average and they tell me it goes up slightly once the car is broken in. Filling the tank the first time was a shock. From empty to full was only 9.549 gallons of ordinary gas, and I have not put only $28.26 into a gas tank since it was less than $1.00/gallon and I was filling a 1971 Buick Electra 225 (24.5 gallon tank)!

Wow, just when you think you lead an extraordinary and adventurous life, you discover someone else if having even greater adventures. This afternoon the Kojo Nnamdi show on our local PBS affiliate covered the amazing story of Stevie Smith and Jason Lewis and their human powered journey around the world!

You can check it all out at Expedition 360.

Moksha, what a liberating concept. I can’t imagine being in that small a craft for 111 days, but it must be liberating. Your imagination must be one of the things that keeps you going.