Remembering

For me it seems that February is the cruellest month, having claimed the lives of two of our club members: Ellen this year, and Jon four years ago.

Today we traveled to honor Jon on our bikes.

Knowing the main road would be busier later, I headed first to visit Jon's ghost bike. I was disappointed when most of our group set off directly on the route to the Panoche Inn; would they make time for this leg later, when they were fatigued and eager to head home? (I hope so.)

Considering the rutted condition of the last miles leading to the Inn, I opted to turn around at the summit. That was better suited to my fitness level, anyway, this early in the season (42 miles and some 2,400 feet of climbing).

Fortuitous timing and placement gifted me with a two-for-one special: an Aermotor ringed by a solar halo.

Searching the airwaves on the drive to Paicines this morning, it took me a moment to flip back when I recognized a familiar voice. A tiny regional station was broadcasting a particular song that has been reverberating in my head over the past few weeks. In this case, a live performance of The Circle Game recorded nearly 56 years ago and released on Joni Mitchell's Archives - Volume I.

And the seasons, they go round and round

We can't return, but we can look back and remember our friends.