Spiraling Clouds of Smoke

What keeps us from breaking free from the routines we have so firmly established?

My guess is the idea of comfort holds us at bay more than anything else. The comfort of family, of familiarity or simply the comfort of stagnation.

"To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield," Tennyson once wrote.

But driving around Forest City tonight I saw none of this going on -- no striving, no seeking...plenty of yielding.

A kid with a backwards hat scooting along on his skateboard going around "the loop."

An endless series of one-story houses with flat-panel TVs shining through the living room shades.

A woman taking out her trash in a blue bag. Her next-door neighbor taking out the recycling in the yellow tub.

The dim light of a street lamp illuminating the path for a couple on their nightly walk.

A teenage girl taking her dog for a walk.

Three men and women sitting on a wooden bench smoking cigarettes outside the townie bar -- the cool breeze of a summer night and the spiraling clouds of smoke easing their minds after a long day of work.

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The more I thought about the scenes I was observing, the more I realized that this was all perfectly good.

Nothing wrong with comfort and familiarity if that's what you desire.

Families need to settle down somewhere. Children need a place to grow up. Seniors need a quiet town in which to retire.

But for me, on this night, there was no longer the same hometown comfort.

There was a deep yearning for something greater. For something further away.

New ideas. People with intellectual curiosity and big dreams. Diversity.

A break from the routine of a Monday night in Forest City, Iowa.

I took a night off from working out and look what happens...my mind decides to do the workout instead!

Tomorrow I better get back on my bike and...

Enjoy the ride,
Damm