Claiming Atlanta by big crescent moonlight - rambling

so the other night my body was riveted with anxious energy...I didn't have the focus to sit down and meditate before dozing off..I felt like I'd had 3 cups of coffee and I'd had none...I'm guessing the cause of my racing heart and fidgety impulses was the fact that I'd just finished mastering my first record fulfilling a promise I'd made to myself 5 years ago : That I'd have finished my first record by 30...Here I am 1 week away from my 31st birthday and I've done it....Just barely making my self imposed deadline. The excitement was so strong that I couldn't sit still even though I was sleep deprived.....I decided that I'd circle Atlanta proper by bike..I left my house at 11:45 PM wearing nothing but some athletic shorts that looked like they belonged to a 13 year old boy and some ratty white havaiana flip flops.

In the big city, no one takes much notice of a shirtless, mulleted man biking helmet-less past his bedtime on a school night.....some, what must have been, former sorority girls in a late 90's BMW seemed curious as they slowed down to take a peak at me as I turned left onto Peachtree Street near uppity Lenox Mall. The moon, a smidge past half full, shone true above the glaring city light..As I headed south through Buckhead passing gleaming high rises, banks, and chic restaurants, I was vainly grateful that I was not one of the big bellied 40 somethings I saw walking back to their hotel after what must have been a late nite out being entertained.....I was glad that I narrowly escaped that stale life...I guess someone has got to do it.

Riding down Peachtree Street, I thought about how much I need adventure to keep me feeling fresh.....The scent of risk puts me on edge just enough to remind me that this really is my ONE trip around the sun...There's a well loved poem by Dylan Thomas entitled "Do Not Go Gently into That Good Night"....Mr. Thomas appears to be referring to the end of one's life when he says "rage, rage against the dying of the light", but He could have just as well been talking about people who allow the light to die inside of them as they get older and become consumed with the physical world's demands and desires slowly allowing their internal brightness and inquisitive nature to dim.....I've had several moments during the last couple years where I wondered if I was sinking into that stale existence where nothing seems fresh and life tastes like a stale piece of bread.

I felt very free and a new riding through empty streets...I took a right on Collier Road and road past a construction crew fixing a bridge..I noticed their bright orange hats, bright green safety vests, and glaring beam providing them light to do their work.....I began to notice that nearly everyone I saw in their cars was either holding their phones, texting, or talking to someone...I was grateful for those moments to be untethered to the technological web that we allow to invade more and more of our time.... leaving us feeling anxious, uneasy, and unfocused......Riding through the West side of Atlanta, I was surprised to see a woman outside by herself waiting or a MARTA bus.....at 12:15 AM...It's easy to forget how the less fortunate monetarily live...The road become increasingly desolate as I rode along Howell Mill past vacant property, old tire shops, and the massive water treatment plant...Heading towards downtown propery, I merged onto Marietta street passing the desolate looking rail yard and a couple of suburbans with tinted windows looking like part of the set from a movie about the "hood".....

I eventually made my way through Centenial Park, Dekalb Ave., East Atlanta, Kirkwood, and the Highlands before arriving home....What a ride. I hope to do it again....That's all the randomness I have for you today : ) hugs