took a short ride homenot a fast ride racing the cars
not trying to catch the rides
not trying to ride the wave
just riding around town
taking it slow
just cruising on the fixie
taking it as it comes
with no real destination
accepting a turn when a turn is all that presents itself
should have rolled down swan street to catch the golden ginko trees
bet with the rain that the street looks like it is paved with gold
stole that picture from camps
he took that shot of his new front yard up in PA
bet his already sick skills are going to go up a notch being so close to the rock hills of the gettysburg area
but
I did not go down swan
my path was further south down P street
checking out the city
the buildings, the people, the traffic patterns and the roads
curious about the effectiveness of bike lanes
frustrated with the absence of bike lanes on other stretches of road
not that there should be a bike lane everywhere
but there are places where they should be added
bike lanes or share lanes
along with an education
people need to learn how to behave around bikes
people need to learn to behave in their cars
people need to learn to behave
the ride was short
the streets were slick and shiny
the wet leaves made for good practice of my less than second nature track skid
actually nothing is natural for me on the track bike
well, pedaling works
but the rest is pretty stiff
ran into a girl who I had taken pictures of some time back
asked her if she ever saw the photos
not sure if she did
I finished my ride up 14th street with the girl from the pictures
we split at Park Road
all the while my focus had been on the bicycle's position on the road
the behavior of the cars
the presence of the bikes, mine and others
on Park Road I was reminded of the planning of widening the sidewalkd and thinning the street
riding down this stretch of road where it is already combat for the bicycle
trying to imagine where the bicycle will fit into their plan
there is no thought of the bicycle in their plan
got home to a house of energy
the boys were at the dinner table
got some hugs
before I could take a bit of a cold burger I was reading some comic books to the kids
funny
the boys choose the tough aggressive, destructive, and violent stuff
but when the teen titans revealed themselves as a free extra insert
well
it was the age appropriate characters and stories that really drew them in
we talked about the characters as I tried to read and explain each frame
argueing with two year old grant that one character is raven and not batman
infact raven is a girl
a teen age girl with teen age curves
dean understood that all the teen tightens are teen agers
grant soon understood
discussions and agruements continued and I finshed the abreviated comic for small kids
then offered to read it again
this time without discussions, arguements, or any interuptions
the boys agreed
ending wanting more I made the deal
upstair, get your pajamas on, and I will read it one more time to you guys in bed
grant was already in his new favorite pjs, batman
it was a fight to get him out of his superman pjs and into clothes
then it was a major drama getting him to switch from superman to batman
while superman gets washed
tried with spiderman
that did not work
while bat man won his favor
dean got dressed and into grant's bed beside me
grant was more interested in other things
so I started the teen titans comic without him
knowing he could join in at any time
dean's focus was more on conversation than listening
so I adlibed with more glazing over the page than reading each individual frame
the boys were clearly tired
grant climbed into bed and got a view
the boys listened to the last few pages then lisa subbed in and tucked the boys into bed
day lights savings time is good for one thing
earlier bed time
that is a great photo
I need to get some skills so camps will take me out on some trails