The day I saw that about Seth, I was in the middle of planning/packing for vacation, camping at the beach; it was an extremely busy couple of days, trying to get "caught up ahead" at work so I wouldn't be too far behind once I got back, locating the last bits of stowed gear, inspecting/replacing things as needed; and then I was gone for the first week. I did get a pic or two snapped and posted on Facebook while I was gone, but was only trying to skim the digests in my email via phone, but ended up being sporadic/haphazard. As soon as we got back, I turned around and took my son down for college orientation, and was gone a few more days. A sister-in-law from out-of-town has been in visiting, so I've spent several days at the inlaws', and am just now trying to "settle back down".
Just before we left, Steve emailed me, from MSL; he'd talked to Seth a few times, having heard that I'd struck up an e-friendship w/ Seth. I sat down and stopped packing for a moment, and wrote out a reply to Steve, which was weirdly cathartic. It was kind of a summary/narrative of Seth being one of the folks who I first chatted w/ here, since he was familiar w/ this area, from where he was in college nearby. That led to advice, ideas, discussions, photos, etc. etc. (Just as one example, I drooled over his bike shed he'd built). It was just a, an acknowledgement of one bicyclist to another on the loss of another. I hit send, went to bed, then the next morning was gone out of my normal routine for a couple of weeks, so, it's been, surreal, like normality was on pause. Thing is, everyone else seemed to have already expressed the same thoughts and emotions that I had/have. It didn't seem that there was anything else to say here. But Liesl, reading what you just wrote, having just gotten back into "normal", that just hit home. I feel guilty. I love my bikes, but I feel guilty that I'm not a "commuter". I feel guilty that I don't brave traffic, am gun-shy about it. I used to ride anywhere, but anymore, stick to greenbelts and trails and lesser-used routes. There are several cyclists that ride along our neighborhood's feeder road; I always am glad to see them out, hang back giving them room, then pass once I can be safe about it. My wife gripes and complains whenever she gets caught behind them, though; it angers me when she starts with her "they should be off the road onto the sidewalk so they won't get hit!" spewing. I try to not fight, but when I try to insist that bikes have as much right to be there as a car, she's one who disagrees... and I have to bite my tongue. I feel guilty that I can't get her to see that. That's been ongoing for years now, but then, this happened with Seth. And it hit home; it was no longer just a cyclist in some distant town, but, was someone I knew, had chatted with, appreciated... The wife didn't pull the "I told you so", but you could feel it simmering.... and I felt even more guilty, that I haven't gotten through yet. As we passed through the Triad on I-40, I wanted to detour off through Durham. Would have been awkward, a family enroute to camping on the beach, pulling up to Eunice and Seth's place; but it would have been unannounced/unexpected, the timing wasn't right, and the wife would have been miffed, the kids confused... it just didn't happen, but, I wanted to 'make an appearance'. I feel guilty I didn't at least try. I'm not sure what else to say. I'm not quite sure of my point. I just want to give each of y'all a hug, and try to go ride w/ ya, even if we're riding in different states.... Hang in there, everyone.... -L On Monday, July 29, 2013 4:42:43 PM UTC-4, Liesl wrote: > > I am terribly past due, but I still need to write this. Several weeks > ago, Erin came into the living room and asked me some mundane question. I > didn’t respond; when she looked at me, she saw tears streaming down my face > as I stared at my laptop. With urgency and tenderness, she asked what > was wrong. Crying quietly, I stammered out as best as I could, “It’s ... > one of my Riv Pals…he died.” I couldn’t get out much more in the moment > about Seth, but I read all of the posts. Others have been eloquent, and > I will simply offer my heart and deep sympathy to Seth’s family and friends > on or off this list. > > > > Here is what I want to say, though, to all of us here–lurkers and posters > alike: My tears let me know that, dang it all, I have come to love our > curious little Riv family. How the heck does that happen with a silly > old listserv? > > > > So thanks for being a part of my life, each and every one of you. Dang it. > > > > With great affection, > > Riv Chica Warrior > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
