Do what you love.  What are you waiting for?

I drove out to the coast and arrived in Yachats around 5pm, then got on the bike at 6:30pm.  There were still two hours of daylight, days growing ever longer as we approach the Solstice next month.

It’s good getting back on the bike after being ill.  Technically, I was only sick a couple days, but it really took the wind out of me.  Not like last year, when I was out 4 weeks with bronchitis.  Whew!  I learned my lesson then.

No, this cold lasted just a few days because I heeded the message give to me: stop, pay attention, look what you’re doing to yourself.  Two days in bed, cleaning up my diet, hot bath hydrotherapy, and more journaling, much more.  I got over it quickly, but felt weak.

Not this afternoon.  The ride was good, stoking over Cape Perpetua down to Tokatee Klotchman wayside and back.  Felt great actually, and when I climbed the hill up to Cook’s Chasm overlook, rounded the bend and saw one of my favorite places – Cape Perpetua.  The craggy bluff looms majestically over the sea, breakers at her feet, sheer cliffs facing the south. 

Summer 2008, I was driving up the same hill from a long day in Eugene I rounded the bend and saw the Cape.  It took my breath away, and I cried at the beauty, the dusk approaching, purple skies bathed the hard stone face of Perpetua.  At that time, I had just started retreating to the coast, taking respite from the stress of the restaurant as we were just entering the recession and sales were abysmal.  Seeing Perpetua reminded me of what I really loved about Oregon – the spectacular natural landscapes, where cliffs meet ocean in a constant dance of stone and surf.

This ride I pondered a powerful call:  Do what you love!  Last summer, as I rekindled a passion for cycling that had laid dormant for over a decade, I was remembering what I loved. I felt I’d lost my direction, abandoned my goals, and to the detriment of my health and inspiration.  This has shifted.  Things are still tight at FireWorks.  But change is afoot, sales are up 20% from last year, and the music program is finally developing along a clear path.  I’m actually enjoying managing the place!  How much of this is just because I’m off the floor?  Or because of my retreats to the coast, and my renewed habit of cycling?  Do what you love!

Enjoy the following videos:  First is the Vlog, “Do what you love” and second is the handlebar cam covering the Cape Perpetua approach and descent.  And remember, do what you love!  What are you waiting for?