40th ride of 2015 - Wednesday, 6/17/2015

I am tremendously excited to be seeing my daughter Christy today, and grandchildren Izzy and Danny, for the first time since Christmastime. They drove to Michigan from Colorado last week, and are staying with my ex- up in Okemos. We have not seen them yet, but Michelle and I are driving up this morning. (She got to see them in early April, when she went to Colorado to help them ready their new home while I was in Haiti on the mission trip.)

So, wanting to be able to get in a ride today, since I didn't know when we'd be back, I went out early, starting my ride at 6:00 a.m. I love this time of day, and it was a great joy to ride in the cool (58°), pale early sunshine, with the smell of early morning pervading the area. And it reminded me of the summer of 1974 (a summer that stands out in memory for Richard Nixon's resignation from the Presidency), when I worked at the Devils Lake Golf Course, mowing fairways and greens at this early time of day.

As I rode, there came flooding into my heart a joyous song that I had learned during my first year at Interlochen (1973-74) in the Christian fellowship group there: a song that also washed over me when I was working at the golf course that following summer:

It's brand new day, everything is fine,
Though it may seem gray, I want you to know that the sun's gonna shine!
And out of the sky, piercing every cloud is our God on high!
There'll be a new heart for every man, like the flowers that bloom in early spring,
For every life there is a plan, no matter what the autumn breezes bring.
So put away cares, let freedom be yours, joy is everywhere,
Joy is everywhere!

Let freedom ring, alleluia now, everybody sing,
Let your voices shout to the mighty King!

As I reflected on it, I thought that, perhaps, at age 58, I could be considered to be in the "autumn" of my life now ... and no matter what the autumn breezes bring, God has a plan for my life, and in that I rejoice.

At any rate, I really enjoyed replicating yesterday afternoon's ride, a round trip to Marsh Park (on Textile Rd. east of State Rd.), for 9.5 miles in 1 hour and 7 minutes