Sonya Buglion Gluck...18 Years Old & A Wide World Ahead Of Her Down The Road.

"It takes a very long time to become young." ~ Pablo Picasso

Each generation has its own image of itself and of what it hopes, perhaps, to become.  Each generation seems to place a judgement on another generation.  The young are stupid.  The old ones are useless.  What do middle aged people do?  So on and so on...each generation coming to its conclusion about itself and other generations, mostly ignorant of the fact that it's been this way throughout time.

Thankfully, for my wife, Eileen, and me, as members of Warmshowers.org, we get to experience a variety of people travelling through Silver City, NM.  Also fortunately, for us, we got to meet Sonya.

Sonya getting packed up to head up to the Gila Cliff Dwellings.

She's in the second semester of her senior year in high school.  And she's doing a solo bicycle ride from San Francisco to Los Angeles to Louisiana to Vermont, back to her hometown of Hyde Park, VT, so she can attend her high school graduation.  And she makes me happy.  In reading or listening to the news, it would seem that the "younger generation" is going straight to hell faster than my generation was accused of going straight to hell.  Maybe it's because the new generation knows the digital world better than my generation?  Who cares?  Sonya is a gem.  A person of this "younger generation" that makes me see that no one is going to hell, quickly or otherwise, because she is alive.  And there are millions of others just like her...some worse, some better...but the Sonyas of the world aren't the ones touted in the news outlets.

Oh, and for the first semester of her senior year, she raised $12,500 to spend a semester in Ecuador, learning how other people live.  So, no, we're not going to hell.  We're moving along just fine.  All it takes to realize that is to come out of your house or your world for a moment, look around, talk to some people, and you'll see ... despite the ravages that the other generations have done to the young, as a group, they are alive, vibrant, and looking to make the world a good place.  Part of what Sonya is doing on this ride is visiting colleges that she wants to attend in the Fall.  I don't think a solo bicycle ride crossed my mind when I was 17 or 18 years old.  Unfortunately.

And her parents let her do this solo ride?  What is WRONG with them?  Are they crazy??? Has anyone called child protective services on these lunatics?  Again, fortunately, no.  What fabulous parents who let their child spread her wings and ride.  Her Dad is meeting her in El Paso, TX, and will ride with her to Austin, TX, but then she's back on her own on the roads of America.  How great is that?  Growing up in an era and a time/place where such an adventure was not even thought of by anyone I knew back then, I am joyfully jealous of Sonya.  I so wish I knew what she knows when I was 18 years old.  And I'm so happy she's not been contained, but, rather, allowed to bloom.  I have hope for the future when I meet people like Sonya.

She has a website where she posts about her travels...check it out.  And, when you think everything and everybody is going to hell, go to her website and realize that it's not true.  I won't go into all the details, but she spent a night with us this past weekend where we got to spend a fair amount of time talking.  I rode out on my Vitus to meet up with her and ride to our house with her.  She's a strong rider and will do great on this trip.  Her thoughts on the future were broad and encompassed important things that need to be attended to for all of us.  Eileen and I wish her well.  And not that other Warmshowers guests have been less, but Sonya made me realize just how important she, and her generation, is to all of us.  Smooth roads and tailwinds!!!

Her Surly Long Haul Trucker with disc brakes...packed and ready to ride.

And I got a few videos that came out without the Donald Duck voice!

By this time, Sonya's on her way to Las Cruces, NM, and then to El Paso, TX, to meet up with her Dad.   Hope he can keep up with her!  Now, a tune to exit this post....this is a tough one.  This is a new singer/songwriter on the horizon, well, I just heard about him recently, so that makes him "new" in my book, Jason Isbell doing "Traveling Alone".  At one point, after Sonya and I got to the house, she thanked me for coming out to ride with her because she enjoyed riding with someone better than riding alone.  While I accepted the thanks, I also wanted to help her see that "traveling alone" makes you stronger and helps you see who you are....and to relish that time alone, as well as recognize the strength it requires to be comfortable being alone.  Hope you like the tune, Sonya.  Very best wishes to you from Silver City, NM.