Facebook Memories—a blessing and a curse

There are still a few of us on Facebook—though not as many as in the 2010s, For me, it’s a way to catch a glimpse of old friends, look at holiday pictures, post my bike trips.

In fact, every day now there is some new old picture Facebook is reminding me of=all bike trips from the past decade.

There’s fall 2015 when I cycled from Pittsburgh to Washington DC on the GAP and C&O Towpath. There’s my old bike leaning against a tree. There’s a pic from my trip to Sweden in 2014 when I rented a bike on Gotland. I had no itinerary—only a vague idea that I wouldn’t get too lost—I was on an island.

Last fall I was in Switzerland, Germany, the city of Berlin. I visited friends and rode the Rhine River. There are autumn getaways—such as the jaunt I just took to Traverse City and thereabouts. That, too, will show up in my digital memories.

I am followed by bike paths I have followed, the ghost of past trips haunt me both online and in mind. I see they are in my blood and under my skin. Who I am.