Put me on a highway, and show me a sign...♪

Last Wednesday we opened up the AZ storage unit and, after a fashion, got Jon's Harley on the road.

We tooled all over Sierra Vista on the bike for five days, as if we'd done that all our lives. Donning helmets and gloves and jackets and connecting our intercoms and leaning into corners and riding across the desert and so on.

After we packed up the rest of the boxes in the storage unit, I followed with the loaded truck while Jon went ahead on the highways to New Mexico, obviously taking photos along the way.

It's a different way of life for Jonathan and me, total nerds from toddlerhood on. LOL This is the boy who sighed deeply and painfully at the passing of Ray Bradbury yesterday, the bookish blond who has fifty-six volumes of stories by Edgar Rice Burroughs and deals with wires and servers and cyborg-like equipment on a day-to-day basis. I'm the geek queen who drove a '59 Chevy station wagon to school, is afraid of climbing on the roof, and cut her own hair most of her life. ( It's cheap, but also sometimes, mostly, unattractive. LOL)

Harley culture is entirely different. It's full of thought, so that is familiar territory to us. Jon's thought patterns deal in practicalities, so he loves all the internal details. The gear, the machinery, the dynamics. Mine deal in senses so I love the external details. The rumble, the wind on our faces, the stars in the night sky, being 'outside' while 'driving'. As in everything, we are in perfect balance.

Nonetheless, we both are getting used to the peril. A big wobble in the wind made time stand still while he steadied the machine, and when Route66, we've dubbed his ride, decided to balk and had to be towed in a trailer, there were some dicey moments. Suffice it to say, flip-flops, gasoline, and a slipping 800-lb 'horse' in a small confined area make for fervent prayer.

It's definitely different.

His kids are stunned. DAD? OUR DAD? DAD? ON a HARLEY? while mine echo the same, with MOM? running counterpart.

Not a few years back a cousin of mine made a similar huge life change, choosing a different school of thought and purpose than we'd all been indoctrinated since diapers. There was a huge uproar and she suffered for her decision to live her own life. To this day, I am so ashamed of myself for attempting to convince her to 'stay withing the Truth'. Who am I to say what Truth is??? I'm not God.

A few years later another cousin made a life change and had a gorgeous son, on her own. Not so backlash, because there was a baby, but she suffered, too, because she was choosing something different.

I could go into about twenty years' worth of nonsense within my own immediate siblinghood, but it's the same old nonsense, and I'm having a good day.

This morning a friend posted on FB about a life decision that her sister made and how to deal with it. Fake happiness? Tell her off? Which?

There was a man from Galilee who face a similar and very public dilemma. Should He state the Law and punish a woman for her offenses, or stay on the Path He preached, and allow free will and personal choices?

He wrote in the sand for a few moments, and then asked who was without offense in the crowd, and said they were fit to judge her if they had no stain.

The Eagles sang, "And when you're looking for your freedom, and nobody seems to care, and you can't find the door, can't find it anywhere, when there's nothing to believe in, still you're coming back, you're running back, you're coming back for more..." We always head back to ourselves. As long as we know we are not the end all, and we are constantly growing and evolving, circling ourselves is not entirely selfish. It';s touching base with what has been Created. Us.

We. are. amazing.

Riding a Harley isn't a sin, but it's certainly different. And a little inconvenient, if you want to ride safely. It takes a good five minutes to get your gear on, and it's sweaty and makes your hair flat; you cannot wear flip-flops while riding AND protect your feet.  Choosing a different religion, a different motherhood, a different lifestyle can be considered a sin, depending on the mob calling for judgement, and it's not without consequence. People will judge, but in the end, you are only share the road for a little bit. Your route is not theirs...and what happens to you is up to you and the Creator.

Choosing a different way is at once liberating and dangerous, just like riding a Harley. No matter what you choose, ask God to ride with you -- or at least succumb to Higher Power than yourself. You are not all that matters on the road, but you are precious nonetheless. Protect yourself. Plan well,  and keep your eyes and your heart open.

But remember, no one should ride alone for very long. Make sure you've got what you need for the journey, and remember to let the wind caress you as you head along.

'Put me on a highway, and show me a sign, and take it to the limit, one more time'