Good afternoon. I have been goading myself to write for no less than a month. At one point I even thought I would have two posts in one month, September. Nope. And now it is actually beyond mid-month October.
I can’t count how many days this month, last month, August, and July, I forewent bicycling more than to one or two errands, which had me pedal no further than 1 or 2 miles each way on mostly flat ground. The winds this summer and early autumn were frequent, and galey (a word?). I did not want to be knocked over, or exhausted by pedaling against headwinds whose speeds may have exceeded my weight, certainly were fast enough to stop my forward motion, and possibly to set me back a bit. Or so I told myself.
Resting upside down in the basement is my old bicycle, my Bianchi, which I loved and pedaled for over 20 years before buying about 7 or 8 years ago my current fully adequate but not-Bianchi. This one has never felt as stable as the Bianchi. For all these years I have been wondering if it is just that I am older and balance is not as natural to me. But that condition has not intensified in the 7-8 years, so I have recently been considering going to a bicycle shop and asking for an exchange–they bring my Bianchi up to snuff (it is undamaged, needing only some aged moveable parts tuned or replaced–I am talking about the Bianchi, not me!), and I give them my current bicycle. Fair? Or would I be laughed out of the shop?
Anyway, I have walked places quite regularly, and am glad. Ah the peace that passes understanding, and sometimes passes me as I stay standing.
Sorry, bad pun. But not so sorry that I am removing it. Just what does that say about me? One thing–I am human…..
Yesterday I walked through a woods along the Concord River. One of the beauties of these woods is the phenomenal diversity of trees in this not overly extensive swath and, as in all woods, the wonder of street noise cancellation so soon within the trees’ realm. I am grateful. The gift of trees.
And there were white and red pines, beeches, birches, tulip poplar, an errant rhododendren or two, likely remains of a loooong ago riverside estate. There was a magnolia. There were other oaks, nut trees, and maples. It is a haven.
And I carried out not a single tick!
The single low note is that some of this path should be under water or at least sloppy to slog through after the recent rains, and in well past years it has been. However, we remain in some degree of drought here, and passage was clear and the actual river was further from the path than I would have experienced it in years past.
Please remember to conserve water, and encourage others–big and small, powerful and piddling–in its conservation.
Whose woods these were I do not know; they’re natural refuge now. May there be more such havens enabled.
Enjoy this autumn. Look for me on my bicycle on not-too-windy days!!
