...doesn't always come around. Have been distracted and exhausted as a result of various planned and unplanned demands on my time and challenges on the to-do list. I have been so busy I haven't even blogged about the
beauty pageant I attended as a guest, the office move of the company I work for, the planning of a trip to China in less than 5 weeks. I identified a lot with the tire I lost on my way to work a week ago.
"How could such a thing happen," I asked the Goodyear guy, who unfortunately couldn't find any of the right size on the island, a strange thing since every 10th car here seems to be a Miata. "You probably picked up a nail, the pressure was low, then at high speed the heat just blew it out," he said. There seems to be a Taoist message here, or at least a physics lesson. And I couldn't complain: it was kind of a nice location for a flat tire to occur.
The last time I felt so peaceful during a flat tire event was
on a freeway in Hubei Province in China. And speaking of which, I am now merely waiting for my visa, in the list-making stage, tossing things I might need or don't want to forget into a box prior to packing for another three-week journey to the Middle Kingdom: Beijing, Hangzhou, and Wudang. This time I am assured, there will be a train in the itinerary! Last year, seems like yesterday, during the flat tire moment, I summoned all my skills to buy a bottle of beer from a roadside shop (
wo yao yi ping pijiu) to enjoy while the bus tire was changed. This time, I look forward to beer and peanuts in a dining car while making the same journey. And though it is pretty much the same itinerary, there are things I haven't done before, and I want to make sure I don't miss them. Like indulging my fetish for camels by setting foot in one of the Camel leather goods shops that seemed to pop up everywhere but in the mountains. Not that they were camel-leather goods (I think), but just a logo for footwear. (Nike="Just Do it"; Camel="Just Hump It".)
Maybe what went around does come around again, like a plodding camel caravan, just my speed. You never have to change a camel's tire.
"How could such a thing happen," I asked the Goodyear guy, who unfortunately couldn't find any of the right size on the island, a strange thing since every 10th car here seems to be a Miata. "You probably picked up a nail, the pressure was low, then at high speed the heat just blew it out," he said. There seems to be a Taoist message here, or at least a physics lesson. And I couldn't complain: it was kind of a nice location for a flat tire to occur. 
The last time I felt so peaceful during a flat tire event was on a freeway in Hubei Province in China. And speaking of which, I am now merely waiting for my visa, in the list-making stage, tossing things I might need or don't want to forget into a box prior to packing for another three-week journey to the Middle Kingdom: Beijing, Hangzhou, and Wudang. This time I am assured, there will be a train in the itinerary! Last year, seems like yesterday, during the flat tire moment, I summoned all my skills to buy a bottle of beer from a roadside shop (wo yao yi ping pijiu) to enjoy while the bus tire was changed. This time, I look forward to beer and peanuts in a dining car while making the same journey. And though it is pretty much the same itinerary, there are things I haven't done before, and I want to make sure I don't miss them. Like indulging my fetish for camels by setting foot in one of the Camel leather goods shops that seemed to pop up everywhere but in the mountains. Not that they were camel-leather goods (I think), but just a logo for footwear. (Nike="Just Do it"; Camel="Just Hump It".) 
Maybe what went around does come around again, like a plodding camel caravan, just my speed. You never have to change a camel's tire.
5 comments:
Better to be busy than bored, I guess!
Your tire was destroyed! Glad you're okay. :)
Indeed I am more than fine.
And it is just a lesson that it is the empty space that makes a tire useful.
Trains and camels, far more reliable.
I really like the way this post flows. Most of your posts do. But it's nice. I feel something Taoist in that too but can't quite articulate it. Oh well. :)
@ Brandon--
Thank you for your comment.
There is no point in trying to articulate the Taoist points...if you feel it, you got it.
Thank you for reading.
Go big Sis! China no less. Again! I hope to make it out of New England.
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