Not A Normal Week

Defeated by a horrendous South Wind, but at least I was out riding Sunday.

It's been 15 years ago that I was in a position where April was......just another month. As you know, last year was the last Trans Iowa ever. (Maybe you didn't know that? Click here.) So this April has been quite a change for me personally. That said, it hasn't been without its reminders and odd feelings.

Of course, last weekend's Iowa Wind and Rock event was something that was a big event for me. It was kind of a moment of closure for me, personally, and as I watched the event from afar via social media, it was a reminder of the days when I was out there running around for the weekend running an event. In one sense I missed it, mostly the people really, and hanging out in weird places in the rural countryside. Then there were things I remembered and I won't miss at all.

But in another sense Iowa Wind and Rock, falling at a time when I never would have run Trans Iowa, felt, well....... I'm not sure how to put it. The thing is, this week, leading into the final weekend of April, is what is ingrained in my psyche as "Trans Iowa crunch time". So much so that, for no apparent reason, I haven't been able to sleep well this week. My mind is racing, but there is nothing pressing. Normally there would be. I think I've been kick started into "Trans Iowa mode" by last weekend's event and other influences, which are there, but perhaps more subtle.

I liken it to back when I wasn't playing junior high and high school football anymore. I remember every August for several years in my 20's smelling the humid grass, feeling the heat, and the way the light of day was. It was reminding me it was time for football training. But I wasn't a football player anymore. In that same manner, the warbling song of the Robins in the morning, the greening of the grass, the tulips blooming, they all remind me that it is Trans Iowa time. Only I don't do that anymore. Yeah......but my subconscious still thinks I am, I guess. Does that make any sense? Dunno......

I went out for a ride Sunday with no other aim but to get a ride in. I wasn't trying to escape Trans Iowa madness. I was just riding a bicycle. It was liberating. So, it hasn't all been haunting memories and intuitive reactions to an event that isn't there anymore. I looked at my foyer the other day, which at this time of year would be piled high with a stack of boxes and storage tubs readied for a Trans Iowa. That stuff wasn't there. I smiled. One less burden to bear. I've been hanging out with my family more this month. In fact, we spent a good couple of hours just sitting with each other just before I wrote this post. That would NOT have happened if there were a T.I.v15 to worry about.

So, it's been a weird month, a really odd week, and I suspect Saturday and Sunday this weekend will be really weird. In good and bad ways. One thing I know- I'll be doing something for the first time in over 15 years Sunday as I play my guitar in the church band.

Strange days indeed.