My Life as a Bike 3: 5 October 2011 Ride: Next Stop

When one travels to Panama, one must always stop in Inman, GA, a small “hamlet” just outside Fayetteville, GA where Carol grew up and where her 92 yesr-old mother, Frances, still lives. People may recall that I spent almost a week back in February in Inman with Frances, helping to set up companion care. Frances, in a year, went from no longer driving to barely being able to walk and, for a while, it seemed as if she was going to be wheel-chair bound. She has always been fiercely independent and insisted with a low toned vengeance that she did not need any companion to come in, even for a couple of hours, to help with her personal needs and meddle with her day. I think she thought that if she stalled long enough I would pack up and go back home. But I informed her on the third day of my stay, when the air was getting a bit tense between the two of us, in a loving but firm manner, that I was not leaving until companion care was set up. A couple of days later, Frances had someone coming in two hours in the morning and two hours in the evening.

February seems so long ago and that is directly due to the daily ride journey. That visit easily seems to be at least a year ago, or even longer! I am happy to report that since that visit Frances has stabilized and is back to using a walker, though her short term memory is poor. It seems that a big factor in her well-being is that she particularly took to one of the companions, Laverine, who now spends the night with Frances and most of the day. Do not be fooled; my presence back in February played just a small part in what has still been a long involved care-taking process for her adult children, as almost any person with a very elderly parent is well aware. It was a short but very sweet visit on our way to Panama.

The bike ride was very sweet as well. A beautiful day and Laverine, having overheard a phone conversation I was having with Frances before we had arrived about finding a bike, had her friend Fitz drop his off for me to use. I started off in the area around Frances house to get use to the bike and the mirror I had attached to the sunglasses I had brought along.

Fayette County Georgia has a very strict leash law but I presume on this one particular tucked away dead end road no one was very concerned about that as I encountered several loose dogs. One golden lab approached me with her tail wagging and eating up the attention I gave her.

When I encountered the black one galloping out of its driveway and making its way over to me, I instinctively reached for the Halt can. But I was on a borrowed bike and there was no can. Nor was there a water bottle to squirt him with as there were no bottle cages. Maybe I could squeeze water out of the hose of my Camelbak and aim it like a cow’s teat at his face when he approached. No, it was just me, the bike and my sweet talking voice. But he turned out to be more bark than bite as he quickly retreated if I stepped toward him.

The mastiff mix, was even more of a baby going from barking to whining if I even looked at him. Still, I was glad to move on to areas with the dogs safely fenced away.

I ended up on a road that just kept going and going, with stops for crossroads but otherwise very little traffic. I rode easily and I was enjoying the ride in a way I hadn’t for quite some time. At one point, I came across a yellow street sign that I thought was warning motorists to be careful of a person in the neighborhood who crossed the road in a motorized wheel chair.

But after seeing another and then another similar sign, I realized I had reached Peachtree City, a planned community formed in the 1970s that was constructed so that people could get around the community on golf carts. The idea seemed a bit indulgent to me back then with golf courses interspersed among the houses. But, I guess there is something appealing about the concept, if only it were applied to general populations and not only utilized in a very wealthy community.

I headed back toward Inman and by the time I reached Frances’s house I felt fulfilled and happy and in love with the world.