Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Last ride

Date: August 1
Mileage: 18.3
August mileage: 18.3
Temperature upon departure: 51

Last bicycle ride in Homer.
With a wind chill in August and rain-spattered streets
Pavement I've pedaled down many dozens of times. Maybe 100 times.
Suddenly drenched in a nostalgia I cannot shake, a beauty I never noticed.

I struggle because I want to remember all of it -
The way the trees pinstripe the sunlight,
The tear-soaked plummet to the Bay.

I find it hard to breathe because I'm descending
Something I'll never again climb.

Wavering against the cow parsnip,
I strain to memorize the musty sweet smell in the explosive umbrellas
Unable to forget how each one looks at 10-below
Encapsulated in ice
As if locked inside eternity.

I find comfort in the idea that nothing stays the same.

I may never return.
But I'll never leave, entirely.

When you hear from me again, I'll no longer be a Homer in Homer.
I'll be a Jill in Juneau.

10 comments:

  1. Good luck on your move to Juneau. I was there several years ago but I don't remember much about it other than going to the capitol building that didn't look like one and my family chartering a boat and catching lots of fish even though we don't normally fish.

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  2. Good luck on moving to Juneau!

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  3. Good luck!!! It's not that bad. If you like it enough, you'll go back and visit. I'm glad I moved to TX, but I miss my riding routes in the mountains. I'll go back, though, to visit, to observe, and race.

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  4. Hey be glad you are moving to another locale in Alaska. Some of us would give our left n*t to be there at all. I'll keep an eye on Homer for you...with any luck and the grace of God, in 6 weeks I'll be the new public defender for the town. Good luck in Juneau.

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  5. Well -- Jill in Juneau -- Good luck in your new adventure.

    I am getting lost in my own move now.

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  6. Ahh... what I wouldn't give to have your life.. :-) Seriously.

    Good luck in Juneau Miss Jill.

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  7. That was very beautiful, Jill. Good luck in Juneau... and I hope that you don't run over too many politicians on your bike rides!

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  8. I haven't checked your blog in a while, but, where are you going?? Didn't you just move here??

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