{"id":1645,"date":"2019-08-21T23:28:04","date_gmt":"2019-08-21T23:28:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/travelbeing.com\/?p=1645"},"modified":"2020-07-19T00:54:45","modified_gmt":"2020-07-19T00:54:45","slug":"turn-around","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/travelbeing.com\/?p=1645","title":{"rendered":"You Turn"},"content":{"rendered":"

I make a lot more U-turns these days, for through them…lives the extraordinary.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In the past, I moved with the illusion that I had to \u201cget there\u201d, wherever \u201cthere\u201d was. Do not stop, do not pass go.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With experience, my appreciation of time has matured. What\u2019s the rush, really?!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWhoever is in a hurry shows that the thing he is about is too big for him.\u201d – Lord Chesterfield<\/p>\n

Now when something intriguing peeps through my peripheral vision, I satisfy the curiosity. Months ago, I was driving through Buellton in central California and passed a sign I thought had the word ostrich on it.\u00a0<\/span>After a purposeful turn around, I followed the sign to a delightfully entertaining ostrich farm! A memorable roadside attraction experience that wouldn\u2019t exist had I dismissed the sign to drive on.<\/p>\n

When I drove down Cambria’s main street after listening to live music in the garden of a local restaurant, it was dusk. Out of the corner of my eye appeared a silhouette that caused me to dramatically blink and spin my mind. Was the light playing tricks on me? Twilight can do that. I drove on for a couple more blocks before realizing this was a U-turn moment.<\/p>\n

I pulled into a gravel lot next to the library where a man was putting on his motorcycle helmet. He was tall, and wore a black leather jacket, wire-rim glasses, and a ponytail with long silver hair. His beard was untamed and road-worn. And he had a wooden leg. That\u2019s what I said, a wooden leg. On a motorcycle.<\/p>\n

I talked as I walked toward him, \u201cPardon me, I have to ask. My name is Heidi. I too ride a motorcycle. But with all the distracted drivers on the road, I no longer feel comfortable riding on highways. My husband was killed\u2026and you with your leg\u2026that was a motorcycle\u2026?\u201d Before finishing my sentence with the word accident, he nodded. I finished my inquiry of wonder with, \u201cHow do you do it?\u201d<\/p>\n

He put his helmet down and paused before he spoke. Slowly and directly he answered, \u201cYou just do. It\u2019s like in war when you see someone die right in front of you. You have to\u2026……go on.\u201d I asked if he\u2019d show me his bike and its modifications. \u201cI worked as a motorcycle mechanic for years\u2026\u201d.\u00a0He had moved the gear shift from the left to the right side of the bike (and the operative leg) and engineered a device on the left side to hold his wooden leg.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Adapt O Man<\/p><\/div>\n

\"\"

Long John Silver<\/p><\/div>\n

With awe in my expression I looked at him intently. Almost speechless but not quite, I said with a brief two-finger peace salute, \u201cI stand in respect. May I ask your name?\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>Dead seriously he replied, \u201cLong John Silver.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

“If your time to you
\nIs worth savin’
\nThen you better start swimmin’
\nOr you’ll sink like a stone” – Bob Dylan<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I make a lot more U-turns these days, for through them…lives the extraordinary.\u00a0 In the past, I moved with the illusion that I …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[52],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1645","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-america-2019"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelbeing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1645","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelbeing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelbeing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelbeing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelbeing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1645"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/travelbeing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1645\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2456,"href":"https:\/\/travelbeing.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1645\/revisions\/2456"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/travelbeing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1645"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelbeing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1645"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/travelbeing.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1645"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}