Day 46, 81 miles, Santa Rosa to Moriarty, NM
Day 45, 41 miles, Sumner Lake State Park to Santa Rosa, NM
Day 44, nearo day, 21 miles, Fort Sumner to Sumner Lake SP, NM
Day 43, 116 miles, Dimmitt, TX, to Fort Sumner, NM
“If thou are not versed in the business of adventures…get thee aside and pray…whilst I engage these giants in combat…”~Don Quixote, Adventures of Don Quixote, by Miguel de Cervantes
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Don Quixote is my favorite literary character, and has been since I read Cervantes’ novel in my early 20s. Don Quixote is gallant, fun-loving with a sense of humor, cares not what others think, and lets nothing get in the way of adventure.
I’ve been relating with Don Quixote lately, seeing a lot of windmills, for example, new and old.
I keep happening upon burros.
And I’ve ridden past more mcmansions than I can count, any of which would have easily passed for castles in Don Quixote’s day, if not of the La Mancha sort. (Not glorifying their ostentation with pics.)
And like Don Quixote, I’ve been accused of insanity –an accusation not without merit, in both our cases – for attempting my quixotic adventure.
But you have to be a little crazy to embark on adventure. It might not always be safe. Things might not work out. You could fail in any number of ways. In the planning and execution of big adventure, you simply have to suspend sanity at times, or you won’t proceed.
So I’m out here like Don Quixote, on Day 46 of my 70-day xUS bike trip, roaming the countryside upon my faithful steed, taking on challenges and brushing aside danger. And, sometimes, sleeping under the stars.
All I’m missing is a trusty Sancho Panza to entertain my fantasies. But people back home, and you all, fill in nicely.
I love Don Quixote for his carefree delusions, his determination in the face of impossible odds, and his impenetrable enthusiasm in taking on giants. Were it not for the forbidding heft of Cervantes’ nearly 1000-page masterpiece, I would have carried it along.
Don Quixote, one of the most enduring characters in literature, might have been crazy. So what. We could all learn from and apply some of his jovial spirit and zest for living into our own lives.
Live on, Man of La Mancha. I look forward to another reread when I finish my current quest.