And the answer is....

And the question is, of course, what happened to spring? The good news about New Jersey is that you need only wait a couple of hourse, maybe a day, and things will change. Today was one of those "ten best days of the year". Beautiful spring day: deep blue sky punctuated by hundreds of white, puffy clouds, minimal wind and a high temperature of maybe 70. At one point I was riding through an area of freshly plowed fields and looking across the shiny brown earth to the green trees and the sky and I slid right into the gravel on the side of the road - another six inches and I would have been in the ditch doing what we call an Arty Johnson (remember Laugh-in ?). I did 47 miles and climbed 2700 feet over 3 hours - great ride. My mind was kind of reeling today. I recently made contact with my college class "keeper of the lists" after many years of virtually no contact at all. I received a listing of everybody they have found and even a photo album of a reunion that was held this past December. And then within the last week or so I have learned of one severe heart attack and the guy is in the hospital basically on life support while his wife issues bulletins and asks for support and prayers. Then a couple days ago an e-mail arrived telling me of a guy who I knew well who was rushed to the hospital on Easter and has since learned that he has stage 4 lung cancer - and all this just a few days before his 70th birthday. My memory is of a guy who was an excellent athlete, excelled at intramural everything as well as an all around nice guy. I simply could not get him out of my mind today...It is almost incomprehensible that I would be out on my bike going up and down hills, looking for the flats to move into high gear and just having a great day and knowing that this old friend has been basically told he has six months to a year if he is lucky. I know, of course, that the philosophers have been pondering such situations for centuries and the questions are many, the answers few but that makes it no less disconcerting. I did sit down today and write this guy (also named Bob) a birthday card but it seemed woefully inadequate. Life goes on but can be cruel and unfair - I know it is a cliche but here's another lesson in living in the present and grabbing for the ring while it is there to grab.