Cactus Fingers

On the road in Mexico

Jamal doing a quick field repair

There is a deep silence amidst the roar within my helmet created by the wind scratching its fingernails against each protrusion and edge.  The air rushing by creates a white noise that erases the presence of any other sound that would wish to enter my ears.  In this deafening silence I am left alone to hear only the voice of my mind, heart, and soul competing for my attention.   I ride past forests of saguaros casting long deformed finger-like shadows across the cool early morning desert landscape.  The giant fingers beckon me to a place unknown.  

I follow Jamal as he accelerates away from our home into foreign territory.  The speedometer transforms into a measurement of fear and anxiety.  Each shift in gears brings advances us toward the mystery ahead.  The rising needle on the tachometer registers the revving of my mind as it imagines the infinite possibilities before us.  Another sound is barely audible beneath the roar of the wind, a soft whimpering like that of a child who seeks comfort from his mother after waking from a bad dream.  My vision is slightly obscured as that child’s tears land upon my eyelids and form tiny tributaries on my cheeks. 

We arrived unscathed in Guaymas Mexico about ½ hour before sunset.  Yesterday was a whirlwind tour of Tucson Arizona that left both of us worn thin on the night before our departure.  Jamal arrived the day before with a malfunctioning carburetor and that night my computer hard drive broke.  We made a list and began to check it off…remove and re-jet Jamal’s carburetor, change the oil on my bike, adjust the brakes on my bike, change a bulb on my bike, go to best buy to see if I could convince them to give me a new computer (which they did), buy a guidebook for Mexico, get some pesos, get some sneakers for Jamal, go to the post office and ship unnecessary items home, find a more detailed map of Mexico, eat some real food before I freak out,  make those precious last cell phone calls, and figure out where the heck we are going to go our first day in Mexico. 

We crossed the border into Mexican Chaos… Uh…I mean Nogales shortly after 9 a.m.  We rode right through the border without being stamped, frisked, searched, or even stopped.  Focus replaced fear in order to successfully navigate the streets filled with people and cars emitting choking toxic plumes of blue/black smoke directly into my lungs.  Confusion replaced focus…aren’t they supposed to check us in or something? 

We slipped into the only open parking space amongst the mass of pedestrians and motor vehicles and managed to understand at least three words from a woman on the sidewalk.  “Media hora mas y menos”, one half our more or less down the freeway we were going to hit the tourist checkpoint.  We cracked open the throttles to get out of the s%^&hole border town as fast as possible hoping with our fingers crossed that everything we needed to do was ahead somewhere on Mex ruta 15.  Two hour and about 500 pesos lighter we were legally sent on our journey. 

With each passing hour on the open road through the Sonoran desert my fears and anxieties faded.  I find myself believing that all I need is a little time to feel more comfortable.  As I sit here writing this after a great taco dinner my confidence on this journey cautiously grows.  The optimism of my soul is beginning to take root in my mind. 

Thank you for reading

Love Jay