After a three day hiatus I biked in today. And might I add – yuck. It’s rainy and bleeky out there. I almost got hit 3 times on my way in – cars not only drive worse on rainy days, they forget there are cyclists on the road. So on the way in 3 cars (2 cars and 1 ChairMan Mills truck) just waddled into my lane to make their right hand turns, forcing me to jam on my brakes. I ding-a-linged them with my bell. But frankly, ding-a-linging doesn’t scare anybody.
Pretty wet, tired and unhappy by the time I got to work. Realized that I may be close to calling biking season over. I’ll bike on the occasional rainy day, but it’s just not safe when the roads are slick. And if we’re heading into a wet tail end of fall, I think my self-preservation might beat out happy riding. I was very aware today that soppy late fall weather doesn’t just mean early stopping – the cold wind will skid you out of your lane, or skid your bike out from under you. Crisp fall wind – it’s not just about romance anymore.
And speaking of romance. I was sitting at my desk at noon today. Usual lunching companions are in meetings or sick. Boss is out of the office. Forgot my cross-stitching at home. Hmmm…thinking outside of the lunch box… What would I most like? Dim Sum! A lovely long dim sum with my bunny (CPwr, not the cat). Two phone calls, a little persuasive asking later, and CPwr is en route (an especially lovely gesture given that he’s feeling a little sick and it turns out to be absolutely pissing down with rain).
And then in the middle of my day and thanks to CPwr and a little serendipity, I got to have The Perfect Lunch:
-quiet day at work with the boss away
-seats for two up against a giant 2nd floor window overlooking a busy street
-a radiator right beside the window
-the company of the best person I know
-standards playing just in the background (“I’ve got the world on a string”…)
-excellent dim sum, all delivered fast and at the same time
-plenty of green tea
-a wet first snowfall, enjoyed from this warm and snuggly vantage point
_[ ]_ ( ) ( : ) ( ) J L