Whirlwind In The Desert

I can see why Jesus spent so much time in the desert. Pretty much free of distraction! Doesn’t mean that the wind doesn’t kick up though. I heard a guy talkin about “raining mud’ in Arizona. “there’s so much dust in the air sometimes that when it rains it turns the dust into little mud drops before it hits the ground!

The ride from Riverside to Surprise Arizona for a friday night bike/recovery event at Radiant Church took ten hours! It’s still not close to “winter” in Az. and the heat has a way of draining the fluids out of your body without being noticed.

Dehydration is recognized in a delirious fuzziness and fatigue when you get off the bike. I was there by six p.m. as I pulled into a parking lot filled with motorcycles and music.

I struggled to sing but the air was so dry I found myself backing off the high notes just to insure I could get to the end of the set. It was a giddy experience and I was supposed to be offering my recovery testimony, but somehow it didn’t feel “safe” to be that honest.

I focused on pointing out that having a relationship with God does not keep you from addiction. Part of the process of redemption is overcoming your fears and sometimes in facing life we run! It doesn’t mean that God isn’t actively guiding us. (of course I just said that better now than then)

Saturday morning came too soon with a concert and Hogwash Book signing at the Harley Dealership in Chandler. The whole thing was put on by Tom Anthony of  Black Sheep HDFC. From 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. I hung out talking to bikers and employees and old friends, including a resurrected Rich Davis and his wife, who manned the book table all afternoon.

I followed a biker band called HAWG WILD. They did great covers of classic biker approved tunes, including a killer version of “Mississippi Queen” . The singer was perfect for these cuts!

Following that was not a comfortable thought for me. Bringing unfamiliar tunes in a style that isn’t quite the norm for “call of the wild”. With the help of eucalyptus lozenges I was able to bring power vocals to “Papa Ain’t Gonna Quit” and “I love you so”. but the stage was set up facing the parking lot and everyone listening was behind me in on the patio in the shade!

I signed books around 3p.m. and we sold more books than music! Bikers are a shifty lot, and aren’t known to hang around long but this afternoon there was never less than a hundred people milling about even with several riding clubs coming and going throughout the day.

Matt Chiappetta, manager at Chandler Harley Dealership gave me a “Gift card” worth 250. dollars for purchases at local dealers. I didn’t waste any time in shopping right then and there. I bought some night riding glasses and a couple of things for Jezebel. I haven’t put so much as a refrigerator magnet on my bike in the last year. I spend most of my “Motorcycle money” keepin Jez running.

And thanks to the mechanic at Chandler Harley for stayin overtime to fix my friend James’ bike so we got ride home on sunday morning! We “sewed to the wind” so to speak and reaped the whirlwind on the way home. High winds had us changing lanes alot and stopping to tighten our chin straps.