Motorbikes

There are motorbikes outside the café this morning. Big ones. Harley Davidsons, black and chunky, weighing several hundred kilos each.

You wouldn’t want to end up under one. You wouldn’t even want to pick one up should it fall over next to you. But, I notice now, they have tiny stands, similar in style to the old pushbike stands of our childhood, and not as much bigger as you might imagine!

The machines are obviously perfectly balanced in relation to the stand—a piece of metal that seems so under-engineered. I don’t imagine a Harley rider would put up with anything but complete certainty that the bike will stay wheels down so the stand is obviously adequate.

And it occurred to me that if, as people living in a shifting world, we are perfectly (or even mostly) balanced, maybe it doesn’t take much to hold us upright. It’s when we tip to one side that greater supports become desirable or essential. We are most fortunate if those supports are waiting in the wings.

So here’s to seeking balance of whatever sort suits. May those stands, flimsy-looking or otherwise, work for us more often than not.

Until next time,

Kirsten