Dancing Between the Raindrops

Bicyclists from the Pacific Northwest are familiar with riding in the rain, but Central Texas rain is a whole different thing than Oregon rain. Down here they have thunder and lightening, massive downpours, and flash flooding. The amazing thing is, we've barely gotten wet.

Now I'm not claiming divine protection, but I can't explain the fantastic fortune we've been served on this ride. It goes beyond the extreme generosity of complete strangers, which has certainly surrounded us. For example, there was the time I said a punch would make a recurring repair job easier and then found one in the middle of the bike path.

Yesterday it got even more mysterious. We'd been given three reflective vests by a concerned highway worker. A certain eleven-year-old resisted wearing hers, even after her mother pinned it to fit more closely. The vest kept getting stuffed into a trailer and eventually got lost. Yesterday we found the vest, complete with identifying pins, on the side of a road we'd never before traveled. We're mystified.

So we'll continue to marvel as we ride by newly formed lakes lined with cactus and mesquite. We're grateful for the grace we enjoy and we anticipate spreading that peace wide enough to cover all who suffer in Iraq.