Ghost Day
This morning I woke up thinking about my friend Matt. I met Matt a few weeks ago in Colorado at the Ragnarök UTMC convergence, where we unknowingly camped with him that first night and then we all adventured out together to get burritos in the morning (and by ‘camp’ I mean ‘passed out in the back yard’) . By the time we met him in Denver he’d been travelling for a week already and it showed; his Kawasaki was kitted out for long-distance travel and stacked with outdoor gear (but still goes like a rocket if he wants it to). He is travelling West on his motorcycle, starting from his hometown of Knoxville. His handle on the UTMC internet forum is Ghost.
I liked him instantly. Perhaps it is the mischievous glint in his eye, his easy smile or the fact that when he talks it’s not to make noise but because he’s got something to say. As the convergence wound down and our thoughts turned to the adventure home I pondered out loud to Iko that I wished Matt would come with us. “Oh,” said Iko, “He is. I asked him if he was interested in riding out to the coast with us and he said sure. Just as soon as he finds his motorcycle key.”
I am a very lucky girl, my travelling companions for the trip home were my beloved partner of three years, Iko, along with Luke, my Hardware brother and partner in crime, Nathan, a man that I respect enormously that is wicked smart and a hill of fun besides, and Andrew, a new friend that I totally adored by the second day of our trip because not only did he go out of his way to keep an eye on me, but like me he has an FZR and can totally rock a pink do-rag and aviator shades. He’s that kind of fella. Four days and 1,100 miles on the road with good friends can max out your stress and patience (as well as your euphoria), doing it with a relative stranger is a total wild card.
Of course Matt found his motorcycle key just as soon as he gave up and prepared to hot wire the thing and we all took off. The next four days were mind-blowingly beautiful and terrifying, but that is another story. The point is that Matt turned out to be a great addition; more than once I was not only grateful for his thinking and wrenching skills but laughing my face off at something he’d done. He hung around Seattle for a couple of days before pointing his bike South, destination Los Angeles.
He’s blogging about his journey at Black Star Moto. Today as I grinned at the map of an incredibly twisty road he was on it reminded me of something I thought of on our trip. A long time ago I heard something about how Chinese bridges are built in a zig-zag shape because demons-or was it dragons?-can only cross water in a straight line. During the trip I remember thinking that I liked crazy zig-zag demon-proof roads. Or dragon-proof roads. Which is it? Well now I’m curious, is it demons or dragons or what? I start nosing around on the internets for answers.
As it turns out, it’s neither demons nor dragons, but ghosts. As I looked around I learned that the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day, and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month, in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm. In that marvelous way that serendipity has, Ghost Day is today.
I know one Ghost that digs zig-zag roads. Happy Ghost Day, Matt.
Photos by Nathan
I liked him instantly. Perhaps it is the mischievous glint in his eye, his easy smile or the fact that when he talks it’s not to make noise but because he’s got something to say. As the convergence wound down and our thoughts turned to the adventure home I pondered out loud to Iko that I wished Matt would come with us. “Oh,” said Iko, “He is. I asked him if he was interested in riding out to the coast with us and he said sure. Just as soon as he finds his motorcycle key.”
I am a very lucky girl, my travelling companions for the trip home were my beloved partner of three years, Iko, along with Luke, my Hardware brother and partner in crime, Nathan, a man that I respect enormously that is wicked smart and a hill of fun besides, and Andrew, a new friend that I totally adored by the second day of our trip because not only did he go out of his way to keep an eye on me, but like me he has an FZR and can totally rock a pink do-rag and aviator shades. He’s that kind of fella. Four days and 1,100 miles on the road with good friends can max out your stress and patience (as well as your euphoria), doing it with a relative stranger is a total wild card.
Of course Matt found his motorcycle key just as soon as he gave up and prepared to hot wire the thing and we all took off. The next four days were mind-blowingly beautiful and terrifying, but that is another story. The point is that Matt turned out to be a great addition; more than once I was not only grateful for his thinking and wrenching skills but laughing my face off at something he’d done. He hung around Seattle for a couple of days before pointing his bike South, destination Los Angeles.
He’s blogging about his journey at Black Star Moto. Today as I grinned at the map of an incredibly twisty road he was on it reminded me of something I thought of on our trip. A long time ago I heard something about how Chinese bridges are built in a zig-zag shape because demons-or was it dragons?-can only cross water in a straight line. During the trip I remember thinking that I liked crazy zig-zag demon-proof roads. Or dragon-proof roads. Which is it? Well now I’m curious, is it demons or dragons or what? I start nosing around on the internets for answers.
As it turns out, it’s neither demons nor dragons, but ghosts. As I looked around I learned that the fifteenth day of the seventh month in the lunar calendar is called Ghost Day, and the seventh month in general is regarded as the Ghost Month, in which ghosts and spirits, including those of the deceased ancestors, come out from the lower realm. In that marvelous way that serendipity has, Ghost Day is today.
I know one Ghost that digs zig-zag roads. Happy Ghost Day, Matt.
Photos by Nathan