The Ribbon of Road Ahead

What’s in the ditch?
In my book “The Ribbon of Road Ahead” I wrote about what I did to entertain myself while riding in the “stokers” seat on the tandem bike. I think I built a car and ran it on whiskey fumes from items found in the ditch on Despain Gulch Road, but you will have to read the book to be sure Being in back has its benefits, one is I always know where Charlie is. The second, because I cannot see around him, I spend a fair amount of time looking at what’s on the side of the road.
The original title of this post was “Shoe shopping on Edwards Road”. I only saw one pair of shoes next to the road on that ride. Although I was glad it was a pair or someone would spend their whole day looking for their one missing shoe, the shoes had no laces and honestly, were not in retail condition.
I thought my story would be called “Shoes and socks” when I saw something white going by on the left.
But what I spotted was a little girl’s white fleece glove. This was on the trail near the flooded park. Had it come downstream with the waters as they spilled over the banks and undercut the path? I think not. The white glove appeared to have been out in the weather, but not in a flood. Without its partner anywhere nearby I could only suppose it dropped out of a pocket when she reached inside for that last bit of the brownie she had brought home from the school’s party that day. Without its partner and a good cleaning, it was not in condition for retail resale.
The hat I spotted was out in the road near the sign “END of 30 MPH ZONE” and had not yet been smashed by a passing car. My thought was that a farmer had taken it off and set it on the cab of his pickup while he kissed his wife goodbye for the day. He did not notice the missing hat until the linger of the kiss was gone from his lips. I looked at the hat with its sweat-stained band and faded emblem, and thought “no, not worth stopping for” as it has no retail value.
There wasn’t a lot to see out there in the ditches today. I didn’t collect anything of any retail value. I didn’t sell a book to the man throwing a ball to his beautiful red dog, or the guys getting ready to pour a foundation for a new house.
What I did collect was sunshine, a soft cool breeze, a couple hours of bicycling and the undivided attention of my husband.
Much more valuable and I didn’t have to go into a ditch to find it!