The Anatomy of a Name

 

I decided that it was time to name my "new" bike - which I've had for 2 1/2 years now.

 

You may or may not know, but my "old" bike's name is "Shtiya" - an Inuit phrase meaning "my strength". I chose an Inuit name because that was the bike that took me across Alaska in 2000.  I chose "Shtiya" because she was my strength and my drive when I needed it.

 

So the "new" bike has given me problems to this point - back problems, mechanical problems, etc., so prior to now, I really haven't ridden her long enough to name her.

 

As parents out there know, naming something - a child, perhaps - is hard work! Naming a "thing" versus a "who" is much easier, but still no real walk in the park.

 

I was gonna name the new bike "Ted". I'm not sure the reasoning right now, but it made sense at the time. But it just didn't FEEL right. This bike is more than a TED. And it is certainly a female.

 

So I stared at the bike for a while, and thought about how it made me feel. I thought about how I feel like a kid on her, and how everything feels right when I'm on that bike. I am SUPPOSED to be on that bike!

 

I looked around for some naming ideas, and knew it when I saw it:

 

CORAZON.

 

It means "heart" in Spanish. And the bike makes my heart beat with joy when I'm on her. Not only that, but when we partied after my cancer treatments, we partied with Corazon tequila. Which was fitting on so many levels.

 

I couldn't NOT call the bike Corazon. But... it didn't roll off the tongue as well as I'd like. And after all, what do I call her for short? Cora? Zone? Raz?

 

So I discussed it with some co-workers, and decided that I loved the concept of "corazon", but not the name.

 

This got one of my co-workers to do some research, and found the true new name.

 

"Heart" in Spanish is "Corazon". However, "heart" in Swahili is "Moyo".

 

Anti-climatic? No. Moyo is the perfect name, and when I say her name, it will remind me of my friend Nanky Seoke - an amazing woman I met from Botswana while riding across Montana. Nanky taught me a few words in Swahili, including "dumela!", or hello.

 

Dumela, Moyo. My heart is full.