Amelia has never seen such a beauty laid out before her as we embarked on our adventure in the U.P. Leaving Chicago I debated if I should bring her with me to the Lake Superior. We have been inseparable since she crossed my path in 1995.Stunning and slender, she was dressed all in ivory, accented only with a beautiful shade of soft powder blue.
She was in her forties then, ready for anything, always graceful and trusting. Chicago was her town and she navigated its streets with an ease and knowing that comes so naturally to those whose lives have been anchored in one place for a long time.
Spending time with me was not as frequent as she would have liked, and she would have prefered if I had taken her to exotic, fun places where she could let loose and feel the joy and passion once again. As we would putz around the neighborhood, stopping by a coffee shop, a grocery store or a farmers market, Amelia would often pretend that we were in Paris. Afterall a baguette and a coffe shop makes a natural backdrop for this romanticized city, n’est-ce pas?
Seventeen years have gone by and I decided to treat Amelia and take her to a place that spoke of magic, brimming with life and love in all its glory. We came to the U.P. of Michigan, to Lake Superior. After we rested, we greeted a lazy late summer morning with a long bike ride.
I am not going to lie, I was a bit skeptical about this lady, now almost sixty years old, weathering the unpaved bicycle trail to the Lake. Timid at first, I pushed onto the path and Amelia flew as if she were a young girl, speeding and stopping with ease, eager to get to the next mile.
What a joyful ride that was. Solidifying our bond, we marveled at things that crossed our path. We saw a dragon-fly (times three.) We saw a flower, a river, a half-eaten tomato, a fox and a bee. We saw the lake and a rock and a scowling old man. We saw a fat dog leading even a larger man. We saw an empty chair, a squirrel and a deer. We saw a boat, a thunder-cloud and a tree trunk laced with mushroom tears.
I pushed hard the last mile or so, proud of the old gal and her endurance. Amelia was flying and so did I. Amelia ,my trusted little Schwinn bike was not giving up, allowing me to experience this magnificent trail with its Lake and its Forest, feeling alive and happy.
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