Soloing

I went to the beach this weekend and discovered something. I like my own company. Sometimes I like it a lot better than the company of other people.

There was a good-looking guy on the beach who really wanted to talk to me, and I put up with it for a few minutes then devoutly wished he would leave. I asked him to leave. He didn't get it at first. Eventually he did, but by then it was getting too dark to stay.

Not that I mind dark beaches, but this one is isolated, and there's a certain line that I walk with regard to personal safety. To stay longer would have been over the line.

Anyway.

I rode home solitary and quite gleeful in the pitchdark. Boywich bought me a really fabulous light not long ago, and I hadn't tried it out yet, and it is wonderful. I felt safe and self-contained and happy.

Then I met up with some friends a few hours later and...again wished I were alone.

They were being irritating, making a big fuss over something that was no fuss at all. There was a brief errand that needed doing, and not one of them was willing to get off his ass and do it, so I did it. Maybe it's just that I like being in motion, but I don't quite understand that sort of lethargy. I have trouble getting out of bed (because it's warm), and I have trouble settling down to work (I'm avoiding it now), but I don't have any trouble riding a bicycle. If I could, I would gladly wake up, eat, and ride the rest of the day, every day of the week. I wish someone would offer me money to do just this.

On a day that includes a lot of miles, my legs may get sore, but I invariably feel better at the end of it than at the beginning, and I'm nearly always raring for more the next day. I've said it before and I'll say it again - born bicycle tourer.

I don't know what it means that I didn't enjoy anyone's company except mine yesterday. Maybe it means nothing. I had a perfectly good day, except for the parts where I was with other people. I wasn't cranky. I felt good and complete. I made all the lights I never make, and when I got to the beach my favorite birds were out in force - tiny scurrying sandpipers. I just wanted to watch them and play with them and talk to them.