The Preacher Said I Was A Loner

The pastor's sermon Saturday afternoon dealt with people who were often alone even when in a crowd. Ironically, I had just had that discussion with Darlene the morning before that so Pastor Dino's message was pretty much a confirmation as if it was for me personally. Not that it's a life altering situation, it's just how some people are wired. However, we are designed to overcome certain things that can prevent us from growing even as we get older.

Taking that in mind, I decided to join a group ride to New Orleans from the Harley shop in Baton Rouge, Sunday. Typically, when I'm in a crowd, I smile a bunch, shake a few hands and promptly forget any name given, but yesterday I genuinely made an effort to be get to know some folks but when you're on a relatively loud Harley, there ain't a whole lot of conversation that's going to happen.

We fired up at 9 AM and rode down old River Road through Geismar, Burnside, Convent, Kenner and stopping a couple of times before eventually arriving at the New Orleans Fairgrounds where we had an awful buffet lunch. The trip there, in it's self, was an effort in dealing with 50 riders with 50 different riding styles but we were blessed with no incidents or accidents. Everyone was friendly enough but alas, I forgot (I told you I would forget them) the names of everybody I met except for a couple of the guys I hooked up with on the way back as we detoured around Lakeshore and the New Orleans Yacht Club.

I'm looking forward to doing that again and maybe I can get to know them a little better next time.