2.27.15 Simone de Beauvoir was 60, when she took herself aside

     Simone de Beauvoir was 60, when she took herself aside, acknowledging all the things she had dreamed of doing, that were now unlikely. 
     I was 23 when I read how she wrote this, years ago, far away. But something about it made me take notice- read on, commit to memory, this reminiscence, for a future roadmap of my own.
She writes that of all the things she had always wanted to do, the most compelling one she chose, realizing that honest assessment and prioritizing was of the essence.
     So she planned and readied herself, and then struck out, on a solitary bike trip, across France.
     Of course, that sort of thing was different then, but I was captured by what was most vital to her.
     The way she faced what aging was happening . And went off, on her journey.
We can imagine her, day after day, cycling onward , her supplies on her bike , the French land passing by, as she drank up her dream.
     Staying overnight at small inns here and there . The wind on her face; each evening approaching, darkening around her.
     Only to rise the next day, and climb upon her bicycle, alone with the day and the fresh air and the sounds of life all about her.