I pulled my truck into a small parking lot just across the street from Mountain View Memorial Park, a cemetery next to The Swamp Rabbit Trail a few miles from our house. When we moved to Travelers Rest, SC, in December of 2004, it was still a very sleepy little town where one of the main attractions was Sunrift Adventures, a store that sells and rents kayaks, canoes, bicycles, and other stuff meant to be enjoyed in the widespread beauty of upstate SC. Years prior I had ridden my bike out this way from Greenville numerous times, and I had to be very careful when crossing the railroad tracks that crossed Geer Highway near Sunrift. Not because of the trains, mind you, since there weren’t any, but because I didn’t want my wheels to get stuck in the slots beside the rails. And yes, that did happen once. Since then, a rails-to-trails project has converted that part of a railroad line into a nicely paved, occasionally policed, safe and beautiful trail for people wanting to walk, run, or ride bikes. I love The Swamp Rabbit Trail, and I’ve used it quite a bit for bike riding. It’s nice to have a place to ride where I don’t almost get killed by a driver that is more attentive to their phone than to their driving.
As I went to unload my bike from the carrier on the back of the truck, I saw three U.S. Air Force personnel in dress uniforms waiting next to a freshly dug grave under a very small tent, just big enough to cover the grave with a little room to spare. Clearly, they were getting ready for the interment of a military veteran. I gave little more thought to it as I unloaded my bike and began riding on the trail.
About three quarters of the way through my ride, a really, really, really old guy (about my age) rode past me on the trail with music blaring. I’m glad he passed me and kept on going. The music wasn’t offensive, but I thought it was poorly written. I thought how irritating it would have been to have to listen to it for the rest of my ride. I don’t know if I’ve ever before listened to music while riding, but today I decided I would. I instructed Siri to play Mozart’s Requiem from my music library. What a beautiful piece to ride to! It was fun when the cadence of my pedaling matched the tempo of the music, and there’s more than a little irony in listening to an ode for the dead when you’re getting tired while riding a bike up a hill. Of course, I don’t know if anybody found the Requiem to be irritating.
I pulled my bike up to the truck to load it back onto the carrier. I looked up and saw that the interment was complete. The hearse and family limousine were the only vehicles there, and they drove off as I secured my bike in place. There was only one person left up on the hill now, a cemetery employee in an orange shirt and tan pants. He was under that tiny tent detailing the dirt, and was tamping it down with his boots, working in the same cemetery where someday Carla and I will be interred.
The Requiem continued to play as I drove home, and my thoughts matched the pace of the music. I’m thankful that God has gifted me with spiritual sight, for it is the only way that I can see that there is more to life than what I can see with my physical eyes.
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