Today, we danced with pigs.
Waking early, we broke with routine and started cycling at nine o’clock. Change is good. Mild morning temperatures - great!
Rolling through farmland, captive animals were about their daily routines. Cows battled flies with a shimmy and a shake of their ears. A pig farm presented itself.
Like the llamas a few days back, I have deliberately tried to share music with domestic life forms. Stopping for the swine, I plucked my phone from the handlebars and projected the song "Maniac" by Michael Sembello (Flashdance Soundtrack). Initially, the herd headed to a far corner, alarmed. Moved by song and circumstance, I replaced the device on the bars, swung the speaker toward the pen and began dancing; Kelley, too, moved with the beat. As "Maniac" continued, swine sauntered our way, transfixed by the movement and the sound. Eye to eye we moved; they moved; they wondered. We wondered.
Wonderful world.
Question: Should pigs spend their lives in captivity?
Shortly after pig stop, I struck up a conversation, while pedaling, with a French female cycle tourist. She was biking east for another ten days. Our limited conversation was pleasant considering our language barrier. Body language and tone convey more than words. She enjoyed "Take on Me" by a-ha. No surprise. With kilometers to go, she kept rolling up the road while Kelley and I stopped for a sandwich on the stone steps of a crumbling church.
People who cycle for freedom and distance are dreamers.
Arriving at the campsite early (4:00 PM) allowed for rest and relaxation. The wind breathed in the birches, and I slept for over an hour in my hammock.
Waking to watch the France vs. Belgium World Cup match at a nearby hotel capped the evening. France moved on to the final. What are the chances that we would be cycling across the country while the French team worked its way to a possible championship?
On tour, it doesn’t take long to find the Magic.
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