Posts tagged ‘leaves’
cycling and waiting
Cool, crisp weather and turning leaves are the only performance enhancing substances I need …
Leaves turn and the weather churns up the East Coast. I ride and wait. I’m unsure at this time whether or not I will deploy if called up by the Red Cross. The Client Casework function typically hits the ground later on, after the Disaster Assessment and Mass Care teams – and at this point, the coming month, timing could be tough for me. So for now it is a game of wait and see.
And so I ride … while I can. Fingers crossed.
the road home
late light
There are moments on my bike where I wish I could magically bring along a non-cyclist, put them in my pocket or carry them along somehow – just so they could experience the incredible feeling and the beauty of traveling home quietly by bike.
It is a glorious time of year to be on a bicycle. I love coming home in the late afternoon light with the trees glowing and the long golden shadows, there is a chill in the air, and I have that wonderful tired-but-fulfilled feeling that comes from a beautiful day spent riding from here to there. I know that a warm bowl of soup is waiting for me in my warm kitchen. Maybe some spiced tea and a good book later. I wish there were a way to share the feeling with someone who’s never experienced it.
Why would you want to travel any other way?
time again for gloves and my PINK! visibility jacket 😉
the cranes have arrived
- #330daysofbiking Day 224
Over the past few days there has been too much wind, rain and stormy-ness in general to ride with my camera. So, of course, today I probably over-did it (photo-wise — sorry). But the sun was shining, there were some really nice puddles leftover from the storm, and best of all … the Sandhill Cranes have arrived!
- Sandhill Cranes and dairy cows
I confess that I have a huge fascination with these birds. We are fortunate to live along their migratory path and near one of their gathering spots along the Hiwassee River and Wildlife Refuge. Each winter, they fly overhead by the tens of thousands, stopping to rest and feeding on leftover grains and corn in the winter fields. There are days when I’ve watched and listened to them flying overhead, hundreds and hundreds of them for several hours at a time, sounding their unusual rattling trumpet-call.
Sandhill Crane: a rather poor crop ... I had no zoom lens along (#stupid)
Remarkably, they can live for up to 20 years. They mate for life, and migrate south each winter with their offspring. The are beautiful and impressive to see up-close as well as in the air – and to ride along on my bike with them, and pass them in the fields … it’s is a special experience for me that I can’t explain well. They fascinate me.
Each season on a bike has it’s own rewards. Today’s “Riding-With-Cranes” was definitely one of them.
(…. and the rest of the bike photos from the day 😉 )
old farm bridge
puddles ...
and ponds ...
and piles of leaves ...
and (of course) the requisite old-barn-with-bike 😉
adventures of StupidGirl
- thinks I need a knee helmet (?)
Put a beautiful afternoon, a beautiful bicycle, and very stupid girl together and what do you get? (Yeah … can I please get a do-over?)
The good news: appears to be no fracture, which should be confirmed today by the radiologist – just a scraped knee the size of a grapefruit and a heart-breaking abrasion on my beautiful Elisabetta. (Sniff…). Fortunately limited to the front carrier – basically no other scratches on her. But still, the bike injury weighs on me more than the knee. I have been assured, however, that she can be rehabilitated (both my husband and nephew are skilled in auto restoration, bodywork).
I don’t even have a spectacular story behind this; it was just a big dose of stupid. Riding on an empty and quiet neighborhood street, no traffic, nothing around, … a moment of inattention, a slip of the front wheel off the edge of the pavement, and an over-correcting cartwheel. All at the speed of about <2 mph. Yes, I am talented. (And yes, I always wear a helmet).
And I think I heard a couple of squirrels laughing.
- my poor, poor Elisabetta ….
For today, it is no riding for StupidGirl … just ice and some couch-time with a book and FoodNetwork. But here are a few of the pictures from the beautiful day it was (pre-crash).
*Note: No small animals (or camera equipment) were harmed during this mishap. Thankfully.
November-ness
next time, I will try and fall into the leaves, rather than onto the pavement
#330daysofbiking Day 211 ~ Elisabetta, before she got hurt (LensBaby)
shebicycles 