So I rode my Noon Road Loop again today. It’s a nice 24 mile loop that I do pretty regularly. It appeals to me because most of it is through farmland and along back roads. I was going slow today, likely slower than usual. But slow can often have silver linings, which it did for me today.
First silver lining was that it was a kind of dreary day, but I found the sun near one of those giant marshmallow farms. I took a break there and had a bit of water.
Second “lining” was not silver at all, far from it. I know I wasn’t going to get into political party stuff on this blog, but this sign is just sad. All the worst of politics and humanity rolled into one. I read this and was not thinking, oh wow this sign really nails it. No, I read it and thought about what kind of loser writes this, and makes a sign, and posts it. Yup, sign fail.
The next silver lining, one of the best in awhile, also came on this slow ride and coincidentally was also in the form of a sign. There’s this monument on one of the corners along W. Wiser Lake Rd. that I had always assumed was some kind of really important National Geographic Survey Marker, so since it was a slow ride day I decided to take a picture of my bike leaning against it. The wonderful silver lining surprise was that it was not a marker, it was a monument to… well just read what it says because it says it better than I ever could.
I just read it and thought about what an amazing person this Knute B. Aker must have been. What an inciteful, grateful, hardworking and God loving man this must have been and what a great message he left for us. I didn’t really feel ashamed that I had never stopped in, it was more of a disappointed that I had gone so many years riding by and never stopped in and that I had missed that message for so long. I can say that I will never ride by it again without thinking about Knute Aker. And I will always be thinking about this particular time I rode this loop and how we need less signs like the losers and more monuments with real positive messages.
