Changes in Latitude, Changes in Attitude

Jimmy Buffet knows his way around a song and his Changes in Latitude is no exception. Last year at this time we were on our way to Alaska having just made it to Dawson Creek which is the start of the Alaska Highway. Dawson Creek sits at 55 degrees North Latitude while Springfield, MO, where we spent the night two nights back, is at an almost tropical (just kidding) 37 degrees North. Since, for the math inclined out there, each degree of latitude is approximately 69 miles, that's a difference of some 1,240 miles. The difference in attitude, as Mr. Buffet points out, is considerably greater.

A year ago I had just retired from my employer, Pinnacol Assurance, and was anxious to hit the road after being a desk jockey for too many years.

In Dawson Creek this morning it's 50 degrees but 'down' here in Missouri it's a balmy 70 with temps heading towards the low 90's. As we had headed north through Wyoming and Montana last year we had seen a fair number of Trump/Pence signs and in a month we'd  be taking a picture for a couple of avid Trump supporters at the Artic Circle. Who knew then that in less than a year Mr. Trump would actually eke out a win and take office as President.

We had visited in Montana a World War II Japanese internment camp and I had contrasted that against Mr. Trump's demand to build a wall. While the physical wall on our southern border may never materialize, there are plenty of walls that have been erected between Americans. Used to be when a political party lost an election they'd huff and puff but then quiet down safe in the belief that in another election cycle their candidate would prevail as the American political pendulum inevitably swung back and forth. This time the wounds and divisions seem longer lasting and only time will tell if we can ever regain our balance as the UNITED States of America.

What's any of this have to do with heading South for a bike ride? Probably not much but as we've been riding now for two days, and I'm admittedly a little tired and cranky,  we've seen a lot of Trump posters still up down here so it drives home how much Mr. Trump, love him or hate him, has already changed the world. I hope he can help the country come back together. As Mr. Trump's predecessor, Abraham Lincoln, once said, a house divided cannot stand.

Our route is taking us through countryside adjacent to the New Madrid earthquake fault and last night we had a speaker tell us more about the massive quakes from 1811-12. His real message though was how unprepared the area is should a similar quake hit today. There are more than 50 million folks in harm's way. As much as Mr. Trump's victory jolted the political landscape even his historic win pales compared to what Mother Nature can do. And as the speaker pointed out, the New Madrid fault shifts in about 140 year cycles so the area we are riding through is overdue for the next big shake.

All this is too much to ponder for this tired cyclist. Today's 72 long, hot and windy miles ending in Paragould, Arkansas has plum tuckered me out. Now if I could only find that lost shaker of salt. Whoops, sorry Mr. Buffet, wrong song.