T-720: The Commitment is Made, Let the Wrangling Begin

The decision has been made.  In 720 days, Wes and I will begin our 60 Soul Search on Cycle.  For years and years, we have been talking about taking a Portland to Portland run by bike...and doing it on Wes' 60th birthday.   We will do this to mark a transition our life and to harken back to our first years together.  It will mark the end of the years of Massive Work, where both of us regularly worked 60 hour weeks and did little else, giving ourselves wholly (and destructively) to our jobs.  It harkens back to the first years of our marriage and youth, where some of the happiest days of our life were spent on long distance bike travel.

An assessment is in order.  Where are we now?  Still both embedded in our work. Both overweight by at least 40 pounds, which is is much worse on me because I am full foot shorter than Wes.  Both suffering from chronic stress. Both feeling the damage of this 20 years of intense work.

I feel-- already-- the exuberance of making this change.  Because I can see an end---in 720 days--which is, after all, not around the corner---I can feel the burden begin to lift.  There is a lot to do to get ready, especially for me.  It is easier for Wes.  He will retire from teaching in one year.  That is clean and clear.

I, however, am the founder and Executive Director of Matrix Theatre Company.  It is a constant effort to keep this complex little operation going and growing.  I am deeply embedded in entirely too much of its operations.  Extricating myself and ensuring that company will survive is a bit like separating conjoined twins.  The good news is that I have been applying the cautering iron in several areas for several years.  But still...

The other issue is that we live in a house with animals, in Detroit.  There will be many arrangements to be made to ensure their and its safety during our long journey.

And then there are many, many details about the biking itself.  Previous tour experience tells us to travel from West to East.  We know we want to take a train to the West and start from there.  Wes wants to buy equipment at the beginning of the trip, to which I am utterly opposed.  I want to get everything working and tested before we leave.

This is an old tension between us.  I am the careful planner; Wes loves the symbolic, extravagant gesture.  He creates 10 tons of work to avoid 1 ton of work.  I plug along forever.   Let the dance begin.