Today started out as just one of those days–I felt listless and irritable about meaningless things. I spent a long time on the phone with tech help, and spent some of that time yelling at the robot operator. I would never ever do that to a real person just doing their job, so the poor automated message guy bore the brunt of my anger, repeatedly telling me he didn’t understand what I was telling him, as I replied with loud variations of connect-me-to-a-real-person-i-don’t-care-about-serial-numbers.
As the light started to change from the regular daylight to that golden evening glow I decided to dust myself off and go out for a bike ride. There is a path a friend and I talked about going on and I thought I’d better find out if my out-of-bike-shape self could actually even make it before I shamed myself in front of someone else.
It was a nice ride–my legs really are out of shape for pushing the bike along but the evening was cool, the light beautiful, and the wind streaming in my face. I rode as far as the downhill slopes would take me and then took a break to investigate a wetland area beside the road that I always see while driving but never up close.
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I’ve been noticing a lot of these wetlands along highways recently—I assume someone is planting them as an efficient natural way to slow runoff from the roads and collect water during rainstorms, but I’d love to know who! Do lots of companies do this kind of thing or is there some kind of state run movement?
To emphasize just how much you can find nature even in the middle of a city, suburb, or road, I took a picture of my bike from the other side to show you:
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I couldn’t make it back up the hill without stopping, so I used the break to get a closer look at the colorful wildflowers next to the path. In the past I would have felt self-conscious having the drivers see me pushing my bike or dawdling in the weeds, but I’ve gotten better at not worrying what people passing by think of me.
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I always think of the phrase “a riot of flowers” when I see them growing all together like this. I just can’t think of a more perfect expression for their bold, unapologetic nature and strewn positions, like they are spilling out across the earth.
I zoomed in on this milkweed flower and was surprised to find a bee visiting, moving deftly between the petals. I tried out the zoom on my phone camera, but it isn’t as focused as I had hoped.
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Hidden off among some bushes were these tasty jewels, ripening in the fading sun. I decided to leave them for the birds, as my many classes teaching kids about runoff made me too paranoid about what may be washing down from the golf course next door. They sure do look good, though!
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It seems like I have to learn the same lesson over and over that I won’t have any ideas to blog about if I don’t go outside. I somehow convince myself it is the other way around–that some great idea will inspire me to head out the door, but it is almost never the case. It is only once I am there that I notice all of the great things around me and come home bursting with thoughts to get down in writing.
It was really fun to explore the neighborhood by bike, especially from the safety of the bike path. In an ironic twist, I almost got hit by a car on this trip, when I spent 99% of the time away from roads. I was waiting at a cross walk, following all the rules, pushing the walk button and waiting for the sign. I have flashy lights and also there was still full light to see by–not just that dusky light that makes everything blur together. Luckily (?) I am too paranoid to trust other people to notice me, so I watched the other cars through the corner of my eye as I started across. I noticed that 3 rows of cars were moving forward, when only 2 should have as the one waited for me before turning left and quickly realized he didn’t see me at all. I screeched to a halt midway through the road as a big rusty truck made his way through. The driver saw me then and apologized out the window with a “my fault.” I do think he meant it and that it had probably scared the crap out of him, so I just continued on my way.
There seems to be some debate among the biking community about wearing helmets–I don’t understand it enough to really comment on it now, but this is a good example of why I will always always always wear one–not to mention the fear of smearing myself on something completely of my own accord. I can too vividly imagine my family members lamenting ‘why didn’t she just wear a helmet’ and how horrible it would be for them, and I don’t really trust other people or myself to not mess up.
I read recently that crossing at cross walks can sometimes be more dangerous than crossing in the road, because if you are right in the middle of the road cars have to see you, while they might not always at a cross walk. Even though I was on a bike path at the time this is something I will have to keep in mind and explore more in the future.
Anyway, I didn’t mean to have this post take such dire turns! Don’t worry Momma, I promise I am careful :).
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Anyway, I made my way home safely, enjoying the air sliding by me. Despite the drama near the end, I had a wonderful time getting out in my neighborhood and seeing it from a new angle. I could go a lot farther than I can just by walking, and while also getting to see things up close that I otherwise have only seen from the car. I also got to see a number of groundhogs and rabbits that I wasn’t fast enough to catch on film.
I will be interested to see how the journey to travel by bike continues, and what happens next!
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(Note: I know this picture is sideways–I kind of like it this way!)
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Do any of you dear readers explore by bike? Are you at all comfortable riding on the roads and if so, how did you get there? Do you prefer to see the natural world by wheel or by foot? Feel free to leave your thoughts and experiences in the comments!
I hope everyone can spend some time exploring their neighborhood this weekend. As I learned again today, you just can’t imagine what you might find until you’re out there! As always, I’ll see you out there.
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