Making Biking History

You might be wondering what these 5 cards from the Goddess Guidance Oracle Cards have to do with the fact that today I rode my bicycle further than I ever have before – 31 miles to be exact. The connection is my friend Kris, who inspired our biking trip to the Eastern Shore today.

It was one of those picture perfect spring days when it’s warm and sunny with a breeze. The white clouds simply floated up there in a very blue sky. As we headed over the Bay Bridge with bikes on the back of our car, we pitied those going in the opposite direction to jobs and school and other required activities. On the trip over, we decided to do the circuit that contains Easton, Oxford, and St. Michaels. I knew this was about twice as long as my normal bike ride but figured it couldn’t be too hard because everything is so flat on the Eastern Shore.

I brought my camera but just never wanted to stop and take pictures of the field of red poppies or the field of green spring wheat or the field being tilled for corn. I saw the most beautiful purple bird but have no picture to offer you. We heard the water lapping everywhere but the recording is only in our heads.

The first leg of this trip landed us in Oxford, a little town that seemed totally asleep. We sat in a park by the water and ate a granola bar before searching for the ferry that would take us across some body of water to Bellevue. We piled on with 4 cars and 4 walkers for the 7-1/2 minute boat trip.

We took the only road that led away from the ferry landing although there was no sign pointing toward St. Michaels. An hour later we rolled into town feeling tired and famished. A restaurant called the Crab Claw seemed likely to have the crab cakes we had both been hoping for.

After we placed our order, Kris pulled a deck of Goddess Guidance Oracle Cards out of her backpack. Her daughter has taken up the religion of the goddess and presented Kris with these cards for a Christmas gift. She suggested that I pull 5 cards that might enlighten me as to what retirement will bring for me. You see my 5 cards above:

Athena – Inner Wisdom – “You know what to do. Trust your inner wisdom, and take appropriate action without delay.”
Nemetona – Sacred Space – “Create an altar or visit a power place to connect with the Divine.”
Sarasvati – The Arts – “Express yourself through creative activities.”
Vesta – Home – “Your household situation is improving, either through a move or a healthy change in the occupants.”
Artemis – Guardian – “You and your loved ones are safe and spiritually protected.”

Every one of these cards resonated with me. I looked at the cards I hadn’t chosen and these were indeed the 5 that most applied to me.

The crabcakes upstaged the oracle cards and we had no trouble cleaning our plates. We then poked around some of the quaint shops, where I bought a couple of things before we got back on the bikes. By this time I was becoming intensely familiar with the feel of my bike saddle.

After a lemonade break midway, we reached Easton once again, found the car, and headed home.

At one point I asked Kris if she could ever have imagined her mother riding a bicycle. I never saw my mother get on one. This made us both feel good that we as 58-year-olds could tackle a 31-mile trip and not wimp out of any part of it. I even had the added bonus of having my cards read as an appetizer to lunch. You can’t beat a day like that!