judifilksign

Short ride today, because riding tonight was like getting a bath from a dog's tongue, except a dog's tongue feels cooler.

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Once I got home, I plopped down with my neighbors and petted their dogs while I got my legs back.  This ride was hard to do!

( Jump In With Me! )So, after a long bit of not swimming after J left for the West, Sparkle got me back to the Y tonight, for the ChildWatch pool time.  We arrived to find the inside pool closed and locked up, but the outside pool was open.  It was in the seventies, on a school night, so it wasn't crowded at all.

( I need advice from my friends. Situation within my bike ride. What do y'all suggest I do? )

I think we saw fifteen cats in all.

Today, my darling husband got the seat off, and the trailer on, and the seat back on for Sparkle and I to ride together again!



( Want to "ketchup" on our ride? )

All in all, Sparkle and I had a lovely ride again, and I am so happy, and have that good, tired feeling that you get when you pleasantly exert yourself.

I tooled around the block and shifted gears, making certain it works.  My big goofy grin made the neighbor's son grin back at me as he passed me twice riding the opposite direction.  My actual ride 56 will be later tonight, perhaps after Open House for my son.


I will have to get my darling husband to reattach the trailer for Sparkle, so we can ride together again.  (Happy anticipation!)



My classrooms are physically set up, posters on the wall and technology (expletives deleted) untangled, reconnected, and online.  Tomorrow:  endless meetings and an opportunity to plan for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  Also, maybe by then I'll have my class lists...

Went out past the third road today, for a six mile round trip.

( Bike 54, where were you? )
The ride tuckered me out today.  An extra mile than usual really seems to make a difference.

 I rode fairly soon after supper tonight, and I'm glad I did because it rained after my ride.

( a golden evening )

I came in to find my darling husband worried about me because I'd stayed out so long.  I think the ride was good for me, and eased a bit of the ache in my chest, and strain behind my eyes.

 Went to the library today, and saw on the new releases shelf the first volume of Mark Twain's autobiography.  I picked it up, and checked it out, and started to leave the library happily, a goofy grin on my face, and the book cuddled up in my arms against my chest.

"Ms. Judi?"  called a voice.  "What you looking so happy about?"  It was one of my former students.  After exchanging greetings, I showed her the book.

"That is one thick-ass book about a dead white guy," she said dubiously.  The book is two and a half inches thick, and as I pointed out to her, only volume one of three.

I explained to her how Twain was one of my favorite authors, and that these writings had been held back for 100 years, and that I could read brand-new Twain witticisms that no one had ever read or studied before for the first time, and this made me happy.  I had new things to read from an old friend.

I also said how happy I was to see her there at the library.  She grinned back at me.  After all, she was there, too, with magazines.

"Oh, Ms. Judi," she said, waving her hand at me in a good-natured shooing motion.  "You are so you.  You go enjoy your book."

And so I will.

I made an apple pie today.  The crust was terrible.  We all picked at the insides.

My folks were still visiting, and we went to the local park, at which The Wilds has installed American Bison.  We walked the mile to the bison compound, my father, Dino, Irish and I, and a bit around the path winding around the enclosure.  My darling husband and my mom stayed back at the shady playground and watched Sparkle on the play structures.  In the heat of the day, we saw no bison.  I think the shoulder-height grasses and wildflowers did not help us find anything, because there could have been deer, bison, people or velociraptors hidden in that grass.  We walked the mile back.  My legs feel it more than riding the bike.

Early this evening, I rode my bike to the first trail, being sore from the walk.  I did the there and back three miles in fifteen minutes.  My darling husband thought I'd turned around early because something was wrong.

Sparkle, seeing me come in with my bike helmet, wanted to go around the block on her little bike.  Three quarters the way down the first side of the block, the chain came off her bike.  I was unable to get it back on.  Bringing it home, my darling husband could get it back on, but any time you try to pedal, it falls off again.  We don't know how to fix it.  It seems like the chain is too loose now, but that doesn't make sense...

I hope I can get my neighbor to look at it.  He taught his son to fix his own bike, so perhaps he can teach me some bike mechanics, too.

In the meantime, my bike is at the shop, and the rear tire on the car is flat, and goes flat when re-pumped.  I wish things did not break down!  In good news, I did not get a sunburn today, having worn a serviceable straw hat. 

I tried to beat a storm today, and wheeled out the yellow bike and made a dash for the first road. 

( gear genius, or rather just stubborn luck )
It was spitting in earnest now, so I rode back toward home.  Checking my progress on myfastfeet.com I found that I had gone 1.2 miles today.  So not much progress, but at least I was able to get myself out of a jam.