Map of my bike trip

Religion was once the opiate of the masses.

Then it was sports.

Now it's The World Cup .

This is emblematic of the kind of ideas I have just before I go away on a long trip.

The thought crosses my mind (I could say that the thought makes a cross in my mind) that this may be the last time I close a door, a particular door, the door between the bathroom and the hallway for instance, emerging from the bathroom, taking hold of the doorknob in the bathroom--which is identical in style and design to the doorknob on the other side of the door, no newer and not any older--and turning it so that the door may be opened, slowly and thoughtfully with the awareness that this might also be the last time I close this specific door.

There are many people that all that matters to them is themselves. I am not one of them. Nor are you. We've allowed ourselves to change.

It's only because I'm boarding an airplane today for the long flight to St. Petersburg, Russia that I'm allowed to think like this.

And to trace in freehand the route from St. Petersburg to Bratislava, Slovakia on a map of pre-1914 Europe when Slovakia was still
part of the Russian Empire, just to show myself where I'm going.

Today is June 29, 2014. After I make it to St. Petersburg I'll be riding my bike the whole month of July and into August from Russia through countries that didn't exist in 1914.

I think I have the route down. It's good enough for now. I'll be out on it soon enough to see for myself just where I got it right and where I went wrong.