While the Occasion Was Joyous, Its Motivation Was Not

While the occasion was joyous, its motivation was not.

Just 14 months earlier, my wife and I had introduced our friend, George Iida, to rail-trails. To say that they captivated him might be an understatement.

George bought a bicycle and proceeded to ride area rail-trails regularly, often several times in a week. I introduced him to the first few, but before long he was seeking new ones out himself and riding them alone.

Then, very recently, came abrupt news: His research contract with the federal government had been defunded. George was out of a job.

By the time my wife and I met up with him to ride a section of the Great Allegheny Passage, less than a week later, George already had decided to return to his native Japan, where he could live in the family home and be closer to his Tokyo-based fiancée.

“Iida-san,” called my wife, Keiko, to him, as we started our ride out of Garrett, continuing to speak to him in Japanese.My limited understanding of the Japanese people largely has been formed by my familiarity with these two people.

Lately I’d been seeing transitional behavior from him reminiscent of what I witnessed with my wife, after she decided to move from Japan to Johnstown.Japanese waste no time and seem to favor giving things away rather than selling them.

Having made his decision, George immediately got to work, packing up and giving away personal belongings to friends and Goodwill – even though he didn’t plan to leave for another couple of months.

He’d also decided to give away his bicycle. Our Great Allegheny Passage ride would be his last here in America, he told us.

It was a perfect October day for a last ride. The sun was as warm as our friendship. As we rode under a cloudless sky, dried leaves danced in a light breeze on the trail before us.

Due to the temperate and dry October that we’ve been enjoying, the fall foliage has been disappointing. Perhaps that’s why the sumac seemed so spectacular by comparison, boasting vivid shades of scarlet, russet and orange.

Near-continuous stands of always-green rhododendron lined the steep hillside banks, where the railroad right-of-way originally had been cut through the rugged terrain.

We hadn’t ridden far before encountering a white cat sauntering along the trail in our direction. With my cat-loving wife along, there was no way we weren’t going to stop and say hello.

Clearly comfortable with such chance encounters, the cat walked directly up to my wife and flopped over on its side to be petted. Whether a stray or belonging to one of the near-by homes, this cat certainly wasn’t starved – for attention or food. A grouping of food and water dishes satnearby along the trailside.

Back underway, we occasionally passed small splotches of bright, Pepto-pink blossoms, clustered atop three-foot stems. Known as fireweed, these are among the season’s final wildflowers.

Within the Meyersdale section of the Great Allegheny Passage sit three impressive features: the Salisbury Viaduct, which crosses a scenic expanse of the Casselman River valley; the Meyersdale Train Station Visitors Center; and the Keystone Viaduct over Flaugherty Creek.

Riding this section for the first time, George enjoyed all of them. He took photos from the middle of the Salisbury Viaduct, examined the model train layouts and Western Maryland RR artifacts at the Train Station, then stoppedfor more pictures of cascading Flaugherty Creek.

Increasingly, he rode ahead of us, lost in thought, with his head swiveling from one side of the trail to the other. Then, all-too-soon, the ride was over and we were back at our cars.

It’s been said that the Great Allegheny Passage is the region’s most-impressive welcome mat, and I wholeheartedly agree. But it throws a good going-away party as well…

“Hey, Dave, maybe I will ride next Saturday,” said George.

Or not.