I remember many years ago my friend Klaus describing a paid day off as a “Blessed Event.” Long weekends for me are times to get things done I haven’t taken time to get done. Time to catch up. Imagine if our nation’s first president was the same sort of self-serving popinjay currently infesting the White House? We wouldn’t have lasted 10 years; we may not last another 10. I propose to enjoy and use my freedoms, given by my Creator, for as long as I can.
Saturday morning, I helped clean off an already pretty clean stretch of highway with the bicycle club I joined last Fall. Spending time with a few other local cyclists while performing a public service was a pleasant way to spend the morning. Afterward, I got to visit in a neighboring city (identified elsewhere on this blog as Pixilie or Pixiley) some of the people I like best hereabouts. Then, back to the house and did laundry, some cleaning, and played with my son. We ran a few laps around the house, kicked a ball, and went for a neighborhood walk. I planned to go for a bike ride, but my wife had to work in her classroom and prepare lesson plans, so I stayed home while our son slept.
Sunday, I thought I’d get to ride, but for some reason unknown to me, I spent a lazy day doing nothing but attending worship service and laying around the house eating oranges and cashews like a barbary ape. I also watched a lot of TV on Netflix.
This morning, my son and I cleaned. He picked up a few of his toys in the den and I cleaned my bathroom, did some laundry, swept and mopped my bathroom, the kitchen, nook, and laundry room. Reorganized part of the kitchen, threw away some four-year-old Snapple, and sorted some other odds and ends. We drove over to my mom’s house for lunch, then Mom looked after my son while I went home for a bike ride.
I managed to get out on Miyata for a little while. The high temperature today was supposed to be about 66 degrees, Fahrenheit, but there was a howling wind. Here’s what National Weather Service had to say about it:
And here’s what Cyclemeter reported about the ride – my friend, Adrian, charitably suggested that I reckon the effort I made pedaling today would have sufficed for twice the distance on a less windy day:
I took a few photos during my ride, here they are. One of the Christmas gifts I was given last year is a medium-sized seat bag. I’ve put it on the Miyata because it doesn’t have a rack to carry stuff. Today the bag held not only the usual contents of all my trouser pockets, but also a Park multi-tool and four generic fig-newton cookies in a small zip-lock bag.
Christov_Tenn 