Big Fish

Yesterday was a big day for the inmates; it seems like every ADV bike in the area showed up to at the Casa. The air was thick with springtime pollen and talk of travel, as the guys began prepping their steeds; some for a trip around the globe, some for trips across the country, some for trips around town, but all of them adventures in their own right.

I love occasions like this; after the excitement at greeting everone subsides and the work begins, I sprawl out on the cool floor of the garage and bask in the smell of chain oil and gasoline. I only interrupt my supervision to take advantage of dad’s vulnerability when laying on his back under the Suzuki; facial exfoliation is my specialty.

A favorite movie of the Casa is “Big Fish”, the story of a salesman and father who tells outlandish tales of his travels. As the story progresses, you realize that he only makes himself look larger than life by first making those he encounters look larger than life.

Dale Carnegie once said, “the only way to get what you want is to first enable others to get what they want”; the Bible states it even more succinctly, “seek first thy brother’s wealth”. If more people would heed these words, there would be a lot less “he said, she said” negativity clogging up our nation’s airwaves.

Make no bones about it, dad and I feel more than a twinge of jealousy when we hear of someone on a trip through Mongolia or The Himalayas. At the same time, knowing that some odd individual has slipped the leash of safety and conformity and is “out there”, living an unfettered life, is oddly comforting.

Sometimes living vicariously through others, is the catalyst that that propels us towards creating our own adventures that will in turn inspire others, and the cycle continues…

See you on the road!