Cereal City

A couple of evenings ago my son needed a ride to Battle Creek for one of his college classes.  Rather than make the return trip of 25 miles twice, I took my Jamis Commuter along to readjust and test the new headlight.  BC is noted for having developed a 25 mile linear park which runs along the Battle Creek and Kalamazoo river beds.  Generally it's empty this time of year and especially at night.  It was a perfect evening, clear skys and crisp 45 degree temperatures.  I rode a good 25 minutes west out of town towards the Ft. Custer  State Park and enjoyed the freedom of traveling through the darkened woods.  The new Spanninga dyno headlight worked beautifully producing a very bright well focused beam a good 2-300 feet ahead with a surrounding halo lighting up traffic signs 300 yards in the distance.  Satisfied with the light, I took my time returning to the downtown area

reaching the Arcadia Brewery, I went in to enjoy their lastest brew while I waited.  Sitting next to me was an older gentleman who asked me what had brought me out for the night.  I told him I was testing and adjusting a new light I had bought for my bike.  He asked, " Did you get yourself a Harley?"  I said, as I often do in these moments, "In my country we have saying...Real men don't need motors!"  Realizing I was talking about a bicycle, he laughed and we spent about an hour over our beer discussing the mysteries of the universe.  No, really, for some reason the bar's TV was tuned to the History channel who was showing a really good documentary about astronomy.
     Time was running short and I needed to pickup my son, so I went back out into the night air where Battle Creek's nickname Cereal City became obvious.  Being the home of Kellogg's cereal company and having major production facilities for Post and Ralston Purina, the factories fill the air with a scent reminding me of pancakes, maple syrup, warmth and lazy Sunday mornings.  I stopped along the river to enjoy the view again along the cobblestone path.

Across the river, I heard two men arguing about the way their cars were parked and had a scary thought for the Star Trek generation.  What if we are the only intelligent life form?