Another Pleasantly Disturbed Thursday - and Not So

OK, Duane. Here’s another thrilling episode of Pleasantly Disturbed Thursdays. And a not-so-thrilling episode.

I was supposed to be at the dentist this morning for a meeting with him and the lab buy on the color of my new crown but the dentist called last night and said the lab guy couldn’t make it. So I get to visit them both after work. Lab guys must sleep in.

So instead, I did a bike ride, and I did something I can only do when I bike really early (like leaving the house at 5:50 a.m.). I counted the number of bikers-walkers-joggers-bladers and dogs on the trail (the trail is 8 miles long; 18 miles roundtrip; plus two miles from my house to the trailhead and two miles back to my house = 20 miles).

Outbound: 38 bikers; 12 walkers; 12 joggers; 0 bladers; 4 dogs.
Inbound: 37 bikers; 15 walkers; 11 joggers; 0 bladers; 3 dogs.

Two noticeable events of the ride, both on the inbound portion. I passed the retired principal of our local high school who was riding a recumbent bike; and a deranged bunny dashed in front of me and then proceeded to run alongside me for about 20 yards. There’s no connection between the retired principal and the bunny. I think.

I know, doing the counts is dumb. But it gives me something to do and keeps my mind off my aching leg muscles. And to keep from thinking about that email I received last night.

Last night, I received a prayer request from church. I’m a deacon, and the deacons and elders get all the prayer requests. This one stunned me. The granddaughter of friends we’ve known for more than 30 years was killed in a biking accident in South Dakota. She was part of a group biking across America to raise funds for a charity that promotes affordable housing, and she would have been a college senior this fall. (I’ve added the link to the local news story but it’s usually only available for two to three weeks after publication.)

I’ve been reading Parting the Waters by Jeanne Damoff. She tells the story of what happened when her son Jacob, then an 8th grader, nearly drowned. He was underwater for 10 minutes. His friend Jeremy drowned in the same accident. What Jeanne and her family went through is something you can only imagine. She didn’t imagine it; she lived it. And she’s wrote about it with a stark and raw honesty.

What the Damoffs went through, and are still going through, is different from a child being killed in a biking accident. But perhaps not. Both are about personal tragedy and loss. Loss involving a child. What Jeanne writes with such stark, raw honesty applies to any loss.

But not just yet; not until there’s time to grieve and hurt and weep and cling. Then the time will come for understanding. Or trying to.

Sometimes life is just plain hard.