44th bike ride: Tuesday

 Rode quite late; well after nine.  It was a short ride, given the time.  Met the kitty lying in the road again, still limp against the ground, but in a different position from yesterday.  It may have twitched an ear when I rode past, but was seriously unconcerned.

It was very buggy, and insects pinged off my helmet, arms, legs and face.  It was humid, and as the temperature dropped, dew collected on my limbs and clothes.

I heard, but did not see the bats.  I also heard crickets, but my mental math answer of the temperature did not match the thermometer back home on the porch.

Had an around the block stroll with Sparkle, with her biking and braking.  She goes around the short block, and says she wants to avoid the dogs.

45th bike ride: Wednesday: Lazy Lanes

 ‎45th bike ride accomplished:
Once again, I rode in the evening, although this time was not so late, more like eight twenty.

I passed that alley kitty lying down in his space smack in the middle of the lane, who remained blissfully certain I wouldn't mow him over.  His back was to me this time, tail slowly tapping the warm blacktop.

Once I got on the trail, there was a bunny on the path, happily stretched out.  I thought at first it was dead when I pedaled past it, but its ears twitched, and it rolled onto its tummy and froze.  It did not move as I went past.

I did not get a chance to swim, so I took the long way out, past the first road, across the bridge, past the second road, startling the indigo bunting papa and mama where they were just sitting on the path.  They flew up toward my handlebars before turning around and winging into the trees.  Papa was so very blue in the sun set.

I road to the point where turning around would give me a six mile ride.  A buff man I'd passed several times before grinned at me hugely as he passed me.

At the turn-around, there was a black snake in the road, lying across the black and white stripes for the tractor crossing.  It, too, seemed blissfully content to just sit in that last sunbeam and bake, certain I would either miss it, not see it, or run away scared.  It moved just enough to put itself entirely on the blacktop.

In the trees, I saw my first goldfinch of summer, glowing like a child's glow stick against the dark green leaves behind it as the sun's rays  brightened his feathers.

The rabbit was in the grass to the side of the road when I came back, but when I peeked over my shoulder, he'd stretched back out on the black top again.

The cat was still in the alley, still in the same position.

I got in before twilight set in, with the sky still bright around me, and was satisfied.

Ride 46: a New Neigh-bor

 Went out at half-past eight.  The temperature was only 82, but the humidity was so high, I felt soaked before I got down the block.  I only went to the first road, because the ride just took the starch right out of me.

The park folks had mowed one lawnmower's width on either side of the path, and the scent of new-mown grass was nearly overwhelming, and snuffled me up and made my eyes itch.  Grasshoppers, previously seen within the grass but quiet, now flew away from me in alarm as I passed them in the grass.  Birds of all types waited for this moment, and swept out of the sky to grab them mid-air.  Nice to know I do more for the birds than freak them out.

Passing my neighbors, I noted they now have a new horse, a paint.  He's a beautiful gelding, with a blond mane, but black bangs, and a tail that is blond on top, and black at the bottom.  His coat is white with large brown patches.

I will have to set strict rules and limits with Sparkle about staying out of his pasture unless specifically invited in by the adults, under supervision.