The Patience of Butterflies

So I'm off riding my bike, taking in my country road sights, just enjoying the morning's fresh air: no particular destination in mind, just wait and see which way the wind blows me. I end up turning west on Q, having the idea that it might be fun to see what's still in bloom on the corner of Q and 57. I'm just riding along, minding my own business, when out of the corner of my right eye I notice a dab of color..... as I ride on past the dab -- my brain finally registers that the splash of color was actually a monarch poised on the delicate ditch weeds. Still pedaling when I further consider that I do have my camera, perhaps I should turn around and go back and take a picture. Ever so cautiously I do indeed make a safe U-turn, peddle back the distance I traveled while considering this opportunity and then a second U-turn and come up on my nice ditch weeds. LO and BEHOLD: my butterfly is still there -- just waiting for me to capture it!! That's what I call patience.

Having captured the two pictures above, I just happen to take a look down at my odometer and nearly shriek from the excitement. Somehow in my stopping the bike, my odometer has shifted modes from the 'trip' mode to the 'total-miles-ridden' mode. It is at that moment that I have the opportunity to realize that I have ridden my bike 1312 miles in the two summers & a portion of FL winter, of my biking. That total amazes me. Flabbergasts me. How is that even possible? Couch potato me? One thousand, three hundred and twelve miles?? Seriously? And of course that's my lucky number!! (See last summer's Aruba post concerning the license plate for full explanation..... just click on the link 1312/1213 below.) That's what I call persistence. I don't ride quickly. I don't ride fast. I just keep on riding. That's what I call perseverance. So today's lesson is all about patience and persistence and perseverance.