Is there a remedy for my restless nature? I’ve tried to find it sitting still, but if there’s one thing I can always bet on having, it’s itchy feet. Yup. Story of my life. Two wheels under me, the wide-open road in front of me, and a broken heart behind me.
Maybe watching every mythical episode of the great Canadian series, "The Littlest Hobo" in my childhood doomed me to a life of adventure, asphalt and altruism. That tragic-hero-German Shepherd-spirit-dog of many names belonged to no one and to everyone. He was free in every sense of the word. After journeying 100 miles with a silver locket to give to the estranged granddaughter of an elderly gentleman, parachuting from an airplane with medicine that could save a boy’s life, or leaping through a window to prevent robbers from pulling a heist, he would brilliantly intuit the most timely departure and lumber on down the road, the wind in his ears, destination unknown, as the theme song played on:
"There's a voice that keeps on calling me. Down the road. That's where I'll always be. Oh, every stop I make, I make a new friend. Can't stay for long. Just turn around, and I'm gone again. Maybe tomorrow, I'll want to settle down. Until tomorrow, I'll just keep movin' on.”
Not surprisingly, it turns out two of the dogs that played "The Littlest Hobo" were girls.
The voice that keeps on calling me is not one of reason or logic. It’s the voice of the Canadian Tourism Commission and their "Get Going Canada" campaign designed to urge Canadians to take two days, two weeks, or two months to "drive the World's Greatest Country and enjoy the view!"
They've selected 15 of Canada's most breathtaking drives in an effort to showcase our country's natural splendour. I’ve ridden cross-country several times, twice with Henk (every girl needs a name like Henk for her motorbike), and each time I am convinced anew of our superior beauty.
I’ll be starting in Alberta, with the first spectacular Rocky Mountain ride up the Icefields Parkway from Banff to Jasper. From there, I’ll head west for an adventure by land and by sea in B.C. before turning the wheels north to the Yukon, land of dreams…
The plan is to remain flexible and go with the flow. As anyone who’s ever ridden a motorbike can testify, circumstances can change dramatically in a split second. Just when you’re delighting in a sweet sense of complete control as you judiciously manoeuvre 700 pounds of steel and bones down miles of tar at high speed, you can be instantly overturned with the ultimate realisation that on two wheels, there is no such thing as control.
It's the act of climbing inside that paradox, surrendering to the road and its own carefully mapped out perfection, which creates space for the magic to drop in.
I couldn’t tell you what remedies I’d need if I’d grown up watching "The Sopranos."
Maybe watching every mythical episode of the great Canadian series, "The Littlest Hobo" in my childhood doomed me to a life of adventure, asphalt and altruism. That tragic-hero-German Shepherd-spirit-dog of many names belonged to no one and to everyone. He was free in every sense of the word. After journeying 100 miles with a silver locket to give to the estranged granddaughter of an elderly gentleman, parachuting from an airplane with medicine that could save a boy’s life, or leaping through a window to prevent robbers from pulling a heist, he would brilliantly intuit the most timely departure and lumber on down the road, the wind in his ears, destination unknown, as the theme song played on:
"There's a voice that keeps on calling me. Down the road. That's where I'll always be. Oh, every stop I make, I make a new friend. Can't stay for long. Just turn around, and I'm gone again. Maybe tomorrow, I'll want to settle down. Until tomorrow, I'll just keep movin' on.”
Not surprisingly, it turns out two of the dogs that played "The Littlest Hobo" were girls.
The voice that keeps on calling me is not one of reason or logic. It’s the voice of the Canadian Tourism Commission and their "Get Going Canada" campaign designed to urge Canadians to take two days, two weeks, or two months to "drive the World's Greatest Country and enjoy the view!"
They've selected 15 of Canada's most breathtaking drives in an effort to showcase our country's natural splendour. I’ve ridden cross-country several times, twice with Henk (every girl needs a name like Henk for her motorbike), and each time I am convinced anew of our superior beauty.
I’ll be starting in Alberta, with the first spectacular Rocky Mountain ride up the Icefields Parkway from Banff to Jasper. From there, I’ll head west for an adventure by land and by sea in B.C. before turning the wheels north to the Yukon, land of dreams…
The plan is to remain flexible and go with the flow. As anyone who’s ever ridden a motorbike can testify, circumstances can change dramatically in a split second. Just when you’re delighting in a sweet sense of complete control as you judiciously manoeuvre 700 pounds of steel and bones down miles of tar at high speed, you can be instantly overturned with the ultimate realisation that on two wheels, there is no such thing as control.
It's the act of climbing inside that paradox, surrendering to the road and its own carefully mapped out perfection, which creates space for the magic to drop in.
I couldn’t tell you what remedies I’d need if I’d grown up watching "The Sopranos."
posted by Moira Nordholt | 2:12 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home