I went mountain biking today in the Pentland Hills, just outside Edinburgh. There’s still a decent amount of snow on the ground up there – crunchy, a bit icy in places, with a dusting of fresh snow on top so you can’t always be sure what’s underneath. Adds another dimension to the ride, you could say.
You could also say it makes it a lot easier to crash, especially when you get to the downhill parts. Things aren’t what they normally are. What if something you’re not prepared for happens? What if something that seems solid collapses?
Is this sounding familiar, in a metaphor-for-current-times sort of way? I thought so.
I noticed a couple of other things. It was surprising just how easy it actually was to ride in the snow. It was different, I had to watch what I was doing. But as I got used to the conditions, I discovered a new way to ride. It wasn’t just about coping – new things were possible. And guess what – it was brilliant fun.
The way things are just now means we need to do things differently. But as I discovered today on my bike, that doesn’t mean it’s all about struggling to survive. By being aware of the current conditions you can adapt, even take advantage of the situation. You might even have some fun. It’s doing what you did in the past, before conditions changed, that results in you hitting the trees.
Maybe that’s what they mean when they say “We live in interesting times.”
Posted by marklister 
