08-14-09

It was another gorgeous sunny morning. Corey wanted to go for a bike ride, so we headed south on the 101. The road is hilly, windy, with narrow shoulders and runaway traffic. Though it is difficult it is extremely bike friendly as there are many hard-core long distance bikers riding up and down the coast. They carry everything the have on bags on their bikes and camp along the road.
As we were climbing a long hill I watched two long distance bikers gaining on us in my mirror. When they finally came around us I was intrigued by the two young women. I said, “Hey”. They said, “Hi” and “Good morning” in a tough, road hardened way. They seemed extremely confidant, calm and in control. They were dragging gear strapped to their bikes up the mountain with what appeared to be no effort. The second girl had feathers swept back and sticking out of her helmet. Their energy pulled me forward.
Corey and I turned off and took the Cemetery Loop up into the mountains. We rested at the Port Orford Cemetery. There were a couple of grave stones that caught my eye. One from 1903 was shaped partly like a log and had a seal that read, “Here Rests a Woodman of the World, Dume Tacet Clamat”. Later I Googled and learned that it was a fraternal order from the late 1800’s. “Dum Tacet Clamat” is Latin for, “Though Silent He Speaks”. James F. Howe was silent, but at the moment he was speaking to me and now he speaks to you. He was 38 when he died 106 years ago.
Corey’s bike chain broke, but luckily we were close to the peak of the Cemetery Loop and we coasted to town in record time.
Back at the park I watered the plants and new grass.
We went to the hardware store to get bike chain links and the grocery store for some supplies.
I spent some of the evening at Corey’s. The Vikings first pre-season game was that night. He’s is a big Minnesota fan, but it’s hard to get coverage here. He can get the radio broadcast on his computer.