Get Lost!

"Let's Get Lost!" -- my plan on how to spend Thursday with my twin brother.

He is home briefly from Europe to attend some meetings in Washington, DC. He took a few extra days to show his wife around his former stomping grounds, and planned some time to spend with me. His wife and my sister went shopping on Thursday, while my brother and I became "biker dudes." Man, I love that big lug of a guy -- he is my soulmate and even though he is four minutes younger than I am, he is my "big bro" (because he is six inches taller!)

He rented a Harley -- just like my Road King, but black -- and we went for a nice long ride yesterday, to nowhere. We would come to an intersection and play "rock-paper-scissors". The winner of the game picked the direction for the next turn. We found some roads that I didn't know existed, found a farm of llamas and rabbits, and enjoyed lunch at a roadside café that I had not seen before, right here in my home State of Maryland. We found some covered bridges (and some "uncovered" ones as well) and didn't travel a mile on an interstate highway. I died laughing when a woodchuck ran across the road in front of my brother and he slowed and swerved to miss it, only to see the woodchuck stand on its legs and shake a fist at him! I swear it did!

I wore my Chippewa Firefighter Boots... okay (AZ), I admit it, I really DO have "favorite" boots that I wear more often than others, especially for riding my Harley on a hot day. These boots are super-dooper comfortable and don't get hot, even though they are leather-lined. I got my brother into a similar-looking pair of boots, my Milwaukee Motor Clothing Trooper Boots, which he said were comfortable, even though he seldom, if ever, wears boots. But he did for me (even though I refused to wear plastic rental shoes when I was his best man at his wedding last year).

While it was a hot and humid day, reaching the peak of 97°F (36°C), nothing could be more enjoyable than tooling around 178 miles with my life-long best friend. Man, what a great day.

When we got home, we laughed and retold our stories, which of course became more like tall tales by the time we made them up (I mean, relayed them again). My partner smiled, laughed, and was heartened to enjoy happiness with us as I grilled a steak dinner with all the trimmings to enjoy eating on our deck.

Live and love life! Wear your boots! Love those you love hard, each and every day, and show them how much you love 'em. Life is short. Keep love and a smile handy, and all else will be grand.