With what little information I had been given, the word I heard loudest was bike? I immediately thought he must be biking across America and popped into action mode. We will put the rack on the Jeep, come to his rescue and introduce him to our cycling friends in the morning making sure the rest of his trip was smooth sailing. As I came up with this plan, my thumb* dialed his number.
"Hi, I'm 'becca and you don't know me, but because of a message on Facebook my parents read (I'm not on Facebook) and a series of connections, we got your number and are happy to have you in our home for the night. Where are you and can I fix you a meal before you arrive? Oh and what kind of bike are you on?"
The conversation was short, but I learned this, it was not a Trek or Specialized, it was a Honda and he was on his way to Oklahoma to attend a week long spiritual retreat. His trip was rudely interrupted by a nail in the rear tire and he didn't need dinner. Because he was stranded at McDonald's and had eaten dinner there.
Jonathan and our boys hopped in the car to go pick him up and I made the guest room for him, cleaned the bathroom, swept and mopped the floors, finished laundry, tried to tidy up the kitchen and in the mix of it all threw together the ingredients for the Muesli the boys wanted to try the next morning. At the very least I would be able to feed him a healthy breakfast before he left our home.
He was so kind, a beef farmer, fish and wildlife worker and youth pastor. Oh and get this, he lives with is grandmother. Not weird, but sweet. He is young and she is old and it works. He spoke so genuinely about her, so darling. He was kind of surprised, but so thankful we opened our door to a stranger. I said in return: it's what you do. It's how we should treat others, with grace and love and kindness and yummy food like Muesli...vanilla, banana, muesli.
Recipe
Ingredients ~
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup white cows milk
splash of vanilla
1/4 cup vanilla yogurt
1/4 cup banana chips
1 fresh banana sliced
Method ~
In the order listed above and in a bowl, mix well. Cover with a lid, refrigerate and in the morning you have breakfast.
In the morning I woke at 4:45 to make it to a 5:20 swim workout with some tri pals. I usually train alone, so it was nice to have people to push me during our main set. I returned home to kiss Jonathan on his way to work and bake 2 batches of scones before they, my boys and our guest, woke. The warm scones and the cool Muesli went well together. Muesli was new to him and he liked it. My boys thought it was fair.
I drove him around out little town and to the Honda motorbike dealership. They had the parts he needed in stock, which was an answer to prayer. He wanted to be on his way to the retreat and I couldn't blame him. We drove to the place where his bike stayed the night and would be repaired. I handed him a bag of bike treats I packed for him: fruit, cliff bars**, scones & almonds, wished him traveling mercies and waved.
I trust he made it to his destination and for some reason our paths crossed. He said our gesture gave him reassurance that there are still good people in the world. Maybe he needed that reassurance and I need to know that the Muesli is a perfect match for someone. So far we have had more misses than hits for the @nimrodboys. I'm beginning to think they like their oats warm. We have 2 more recipes to try. Tomorrow it's Chas' turn: Muesli Mango!
Muelsi, Chocolate Chip Recipe
Muesli, Honey and Jam Recipe
*That's for you Amy.
**I know, I know. I'm currently out of rice cakes.
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