Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is the best holiday we have left, its commodification is centered around food and otherwise neatly portioned onto the following day. It remains a time to express gratitude. That being said, I am embracing the internet and sharing simple things I am grateful for.

Norman Rockwell, Freedom From Want (1943).

I am grateful for bicycles.

“…and somehow the bike seemed to whisper to me “You can take your hands off the bars now, do it…” – so I did. It was a very nice feeling, as if it was a second degree of freedom (the first one being riding a bike).”

What I really appreciate about biking, is the freedom it affords me. Financially, ethically, physically or otherwise. The bicycle is one of the best inventions by man. Let me explain. The bicycle is a champion of simplicity; ‘a triangulated structure with two matched pneumatic wheels driven by a chain and cogs.’ That’s it. And what does it get you? It gets you from place to place using a meager amount of your kinetic energy!

What else is great about brilliant simplicity? Reproducibility. A bike empowers a person to travel further, and consistently. Just a one-time purchase of a bike will last for many years. Maintenance is easily learned and does not require expensive equipment. Bicycles offer people a way to get to and from a job (and more) for a bargain.

No pollution too. Except farts, but those happen anyway.

Happy Thanksgiving!