Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

 

We went straight from cool and rainy to hot, muggy, and sunny. Although, there have been a few days in between of perfect: low 70's and sunny. I'm finding that if I leave the front door closed from mid morning to late afternoon, and close off the back two bedrooms all afternoon, the house stays cooler. So far, the high inside the house without the air conditioner on has been 80, and that was just the other day when it was 90 degrees outside. That's not too bad, at least in my mind. I know others cringe when they hear I live in a house that I allow to get up to 80 degrees. The nice thing about this? It's my house. I can do what I want. Funny Delightful Son came for a visit last week. We had a great week together, and I surprised myself -- when he pulled out to go back to his place, the tears came. I'm so proud of him and what he has accomplished. He finished up his four-year degree in May, and now he's planning to enter into the Master's program in the fall...

Snow recedes under a warm February sun casting long, afternoon shadows.

The weather improved enough during the last week, with temps reaching the upper 30's during the day, the sun shining on and off, melting most of the snow and ice, that the possibility of getting out for a ride became reality Friday and yesterday. I get all giddy thinking about riding, and once I'm on the bike, I revel in the wind against my cheeks, the warmth of the scarf around my neck, and the strength of my legs as I pedal. Even this morning, as I stood looking out over the back deck, watching the rain come down, my thoughts went to riding later today, in the rain. I want to feel the rain, listen to it splatter up, spit high into the air as the tires of my bike roll along the road. I was rolling along all happy Friday morning. I'd not ridden my commuter to work since reporting back three weeks ago, first because the temperatures were in the single digits and the real feel was in the negative double digits, then because we had a good snow that covered the roads, turned ...

Today the sun won out over the chill of the wind, and the temps climbed to 70. As soon as I walked outside this morning, I knew I could not let this day slip by without getting a longer ride in. So I planned to be out by noon, after delivering Hubby to the airport and after starting a new art piece just to see if what I was trying to do would work. It worked. I finished some of the new piece then turned my attention to getting the bike ready as well as myself ready. At noon, I was on the road. Less than a quarter mile down the street, I had the thought of turning back to put a long-sleeved shirt under my jersey. The slight breeze was just enough cool to make me wonder if I would be miserable the entire ride. I decided I would eventually warm up, so I kept going. Around mile 30 I was wiping sweat from my face and very glad I hadn't put on the long sleeves. About a mile into the ride I realized I'd not put on gloves. I guess after riding on the trainer during the colder months,...

This week has been just awesome! Though it's only mid March, the weather is making me feel like it's mid June. More sun than clouds. Upper 70's. All the ingredients needed to awaken all those things that sleep through the winter. Trees are leafing out. Daffodils are fully bloomed. And the bugs . . . I rode through a cloud of gnats, getting them in my mouth and ears. Ughh! I'm not complaining, though. I'll take the gnats any day I can get out and ride thirty or forty miles. Today, riding with a friend, we covered thirty miles. We took our time and simply enjoyed being out. Even the wind couldn't get us down today. We faced the wind head on for half the ride then rode with it pushing us from behind on the way back home. I think I heard my friend saying, "Weeeeeee, weeeeeee, weeeeee!" as we rode down a hill on the way back, not having to pedal, only having to feel the delight of speed and the freedom that comes with riding a bike.