Same Time. Different Place.

Bob Wozga has been pondering the separate paths taken on one of life’s single days.

- Bob Wozga

The concept of alternate universes goes that in one universe you might narrowly miss being run over by a car while walking across the street to your office. In another universe, at the same time, you’d get hit by a kid on a skateboard while crossing the same street and end up in hospital with a broken arm. Or, in one universe, you’d ride free on a DR650 while in another you commute by train.

Work

I imagined waking up on a sunny and warm Saturday. I made breakfast for myself and my wife. Then, in one universe I set out on a ride, while in another I set off to travel to work. In an hour, one of me in Universe A was cruising south on the highway smiling at the glum faces of commuting drivers. In the other, Universe B, I pulled into a city rail station where I disembarked with other passengers and walked through tiled tunnels like cattle on the way to the market. As I emerged on to the street, cars and vans lined the curb, people strolled to their offices and a parking officer was already out collecting revenue. I arrived at my desk, pressed the button and stared out the window waiting for the PC to wake up to a new day.

Play

In universe A I’d caught up with Greg, a riding mate, checked out sculptures in a paddock along the Old South Road near Mittagong and was enjoying a coffee in a Berrima café and planning the next leg of the ride through Canyonleigh to Taralga. Questions had been asked and needed to be answered: was there fuel in Taralga? Was there good pub food at Taralga? Should we come back via Wombeyan Caves or Goulburn?

Having already fuelled up at Mittagong and topped up our bellies at Berrima, we headed south and took the Canyonleigh turnoff along the southern expressway.