Sweet Barefeet

Sunday was a Hubway-kind-of-day.

In the early afternoon, A. and I set off on a walk down Comm Ave towards the Esplanade. It was sunny, ridiculously hot and beautiful. Perfect day for a walk.

We brought sandwiches and I wore my bathing suit under my clothes, so we could spend an hour or two baking in the sun by the river. We lasted a little over an hour before we set off to finish the walk toward the Mass Ave bridge (It was dang HOT, y’all!). We planned to circle around the Charles on the Cambridge-side back to the BU Bridge and home. 

Halfway across the bridge, A. stopped in his tracks. I could tell a great idea had struck. “We should take out a Hubway bike!” 

Being the adventurous-type that I am (eh-hem), I responded quickly. “What! No! Uhh, have you seen the traffic? Is it safe? I’m not sure! We don’t have helmets. Can’t we just do it another….day?” A. had already started walking back towards Beacon St. on the Boston side, and I trailed after him shouting questions and doing a fair bit of grumbling.

After a Gatorade purchase and a quick (read: thorough) examination of the bikes, followed by A.’s reassurance that we would ride down Beacon St., take a back road behind BU and then head over the neighborhood streets of Brookline, I found myself atop a Hubway bike preparing to peddle off into the dangerous Boston unknown.

Turns out, my reluctance was for naught (Go figure??). Biking in Boston is wonderful! We rode for an hour, winding up and down the tree-lined streets of Brookline and exploring roads we’d never rode down before. Riding alongside traffic wasn’t even that bad—just requires a little defensive riding. 

It turned out to be a wonderful Sunday afternoon—the perfect way to end the weekend. A. graciously didn’t even say “I told you so.” What a guy. 

- Robert White

Food for thought this Sunday evening.

I struggle with feeling confident in my writing, my work, and my creativity. I also struggle with feeling confident in my personal views and beliefs. This quote struck me deep.

“Decide that your essential purpose, vision and goals are more important than your self-imposed limitations.” Doesn’t that just hit the nail on the head? Everything that I struggle with is in my head. Yes, there will be barriers to overcome in real life with other people. But I need to stop imagining what might happen and not worry about it until it does. 

I need to / have to / MUST break out of this cocoon I’ve created for myself. If I don’t live and feel and do and say as I want to now, when will I? I only have one life to live.

Dear readers, I hope you are living yours. I’m working to live mine.

- T