No Rush

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

Again, I took the longer way into work. Traffic was extremely light. It was almost like it was a holiday. One of the women who I see at breakfast also commented on the traffic. It works like that here. But, even on the days when the traffic is "heavy" it isn't all that difficult. The only people who complain about how bad the traffic is here are people who haven't lived in another major city.

I didn't rush home either. There is so much to see in the City. This wall was new to me.

And I had to find some Halloween flamingos.

I'm headed to Michigan for the next few days. It has been too long since I stood on the ground I learned to walk on. I'm overdue.

• 42F/5.5C and clear for the ride to work.
• 58F/14C and a few clouds, but nothing very dramatic for the ride home.

A Dark Ride

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

It was a dark ride in, overcast with no visible sunrise.

I rode in under the light of street lamps.

Last night's rain had moved on sooner than expecting leaving just a puddle or two as evidence of its visit. Oh, and in places, a carpet of wet slippery leaves. Autumn riding has its own dangers. It's wondrous how different my commute can be from day to day. It is a living part of my day.

It was supposed to clear off slowly during the day, but when I came outside for my morning break I was greeted by blue sky.

I admit it would be nice to have a window near my desk, but most days I'm happy not looking at the lure of the clouds and the dance of the trees. Torture.

The home ride was much brighter.

• 59F/15C and overcast for the ride to work.
• 65F/18C and clouding over for the home ride.

Sunrise

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

It was all about the sunrise.

The temperatures weren't too shabby either.

• 65F/ and absolutely stunning for the ride to work.
• 81F/ and overcast for the ride home.

Tomorrow rain ... maybe.

Friday

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

It was a short day for me. Heather at an eye exam this afternoon. Her eyes were going to be dilated, so, I got to play driving Miss Heather. I was still hope in time to head to the Park to do some interval training. The weather was again simply stunning.

Head wise this was so much better of a week. I'm grateful.

Hope you all have a great weekend.

• 52F/11C and cloudy for the ride to work.
• 68F/20C and sort of cloudy for the ride home around noon.

A Few Clouds

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

There were actually some clouds in the sky. I'm still leaving early to miss the sun on the horizon. Shortly after I took this photo, all those parking places were filled.

When I walked into the Courthouse one of the Deputies said, "This is your kind of weather isn't it?" And, he is right, but Billie, being air cooled, likes the cooler weather even better.

• 40F/4C and a few clouds for the ride to work.
• 64F/18C and pretty cloudy for the home ride.

The Process

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

The moon was just a sliver in the Eastern sky as I rode toward Downtown. It was beautiful. I pulled over to try and get a photo. As I'm trying to make the a photo, a guy comes out of the house I'm parked in front of. He has shoes in his hands and starts pounding them together like I would if I was trying to get mud off the soles. He notices me and stops. He stares at me. I point toward the sky, "The Moon," I yell. He laughed, shook his head, gave his shoes a couple more pounds, and then went back in. It's moments like these when I'm particularly glad I ride to work.

The photo? I suspected none of them would turn out. I was right. It was too dark and I didn't have the right camera and . . . and . . . and . . .

Here's the best of them.

It's blurry and the moon is little more than a smudge. Today the reward was in the process not the product. Most things are.

• 41F/5C and clear for the ride to work.
• 63F/17C and clear for the home ride.

More About Becoming A Native

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

Again I made it Downtown before the sun made its appearance.

As I was parking Billie, Chieftain Rider came to get something out of his bike. He confirmed he had a couple of stops yesterday and had run late. Of course, I had to show him my new lights. He humored me. Why was I there earlier than normal he wanted to know. I mentioned the sun on the horizon. What was my route, he asked. When I told him he showed surprise I'd come the way I do. I pointed out how all the stop signs weren't a problem for me, rather they worked in my favor. They kept traffic speed down. I shared how I saw many of the same people nearly everyday and many now waved to me, and how I now knew some of them by name. "You're a damn ambassador!" he said, laughing. I understood what he meant, but, truthfully for me riding in the neighborhoods is more about becoming a native.

On the way home I found myself behind this Prius. I would have liked to have figured out a way to get in front of it so I could point out my 100 mpg sticker. Alas, the opportunity didn't present itself. Pity.

• 48F/9C, fair and calm for the ride to work.
• 66F/19C and fair with a slight breeze for the home ride.

Yep, it was beautiful day in the Heartland.

Brighter

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

I got my butt around early enough to beat the sun.

But, I can't say I rode Downtown in the dark. There are street lights all along the route I take. This is probably the darkest street I ride on and truthfully the photo makes it looked darker than I remember it.

When I got to work there was no Chieftain rider again. I was beginning to worry about him until I went out at breaktime and there was the big red beast.

Apparently, I beat him to work this morning. Who knew?

Big news after work. Billie got new turn signals.

The OEM turn signals cracked all on there own. Pretty ugly,yes?

Here's the style I chose. Looks much better, yes?

And . . .

These aren't just turn signals, they are also running lights! I'm pleased.

• 55F/13C with a few clouds for the ride to work.
• 68F/20C and clear for the home ride.

Glad It Is The Weekend

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

It is dark when I leave the Condo now.

Today the sun came over the horizon before I got Downtown. I didn't leave early enough to miss it. I had planned to, but didn't get organized soon enough. Soon the time will change and the sun in my eyes dance will begin again.

Reality continues to show a lot of confidence in my cognitive flexibility. Today the computers acted up. Oh well, much to my surprise I made it to five. Truthfully, the afternoon went much better than the morning. I thought of leaving at noon. I'm glad I stayed. It set a better foundation for the weekend. And, I am very glad it is the weekend!

• 53F/12C and barely a cloud in the sky for the ride to work.
• 64F/18C and mostly sunny for the home ride. 

No Rain Today.

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

The Sun returned.

So did the moon.

Today there were more bicycles than bikes in the parking area. I don't remember this ever happening before. Notice there is no Chieftain. I'm thinking he must be taking a few days off. I can't imagine he would have passed up a day as nice as this.

Today was a better day head wise. Still, when the opportunity to leave a couple of hours early presented itself I took it. The plan is early to bed tonight and a good night sleep, if the newly re-energized Leo allows it.

• 47F/8C with some clouds for the ride to work.
• 73F/23C with just a few clouds for the home ride.

Blue Hair

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

I don't do upsets to my routines well.

Friday evening my car wouldn't start. It was doing the same thing it was doing back in August. It was a bad battery back then. It turned out to be a bad battery again. I didn't find out until Monday. This gave me plenty of opportunity to ride in the rain over the weekend. This had not been my plan.

Come Tuesday morning I was plenty ready to get back to work, back to routine, but all sorts of little things went wrong. Nothing major, normal wrong things. On was on top of them. When I got to work I discovered the place I get my caffeine fix in the morning wasn't open. Later I found out the woman who normally opens has a back issue. It won't be opening for the next few days until 0830. I never quite got on track.

After work, when I got home I'm not sure what I did, but the next thing I knew it was time for bed. It was only then I realized I hadn't done my blog. Oh well.

Today was much like yesterday.

Like yesterday I managed to be productive at work. Bless my coworkers. They are so very patient with me. I am truly grateful.

And, I am grateful for the morning and evening commutes.

I'm hopeful tomorrow I will feel more at home in my day. The aphasia lessened as the day wore on and has been nearly invisible in my interactions with Heather this evening.

Hopefully, there will be some photos tomorrow. The camera I thought I forgot yesterday turned out to be lost today, but Heather found it. I'd set it down in a place I would never of thought to look, a non-routine place.

I did take one phone photo the last two days.

I find blue hair a welcome sight when having a bad brain day, don't you?

• 53F/12C with a light drizzle for the ride to work.
• 57F/14C and overcast for the home ride.

Light Rain

Yes, I rode to work.

And . . .

All is well,
It's just late.

• 56F/13C and a light rain for the ride to work.
• 55F/13C and a little heavier rain for the ride home.

More Rain

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

It was Miss Billie's turn to be lonely. Monday is Columbus Day and I'm thinking the Chieftain rider may have taken a couple of days off to make it a really long weekend. I was really surprised not to see this him this morning. It rained on and off all day, but never very heavy. And, truth be told, it was nearly rain free during my commutes. I ran into just a wee shower on the way home.

As I mentioned above, Monday is Columbus Day. I'm off that day, but it will be taken up with getting the Yaris fixed again. It seems it was more than the battery. When we went out to go to Shul tonight, it wouldn't start. Oh well, I didn't really have any plans anyway.

• 56F/13C and overcast for the ride to work.
• 53F/12C with a light mist for the home ride.

It Rained

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

It rained.

And it thundered, but thankfully the lightning was far away by the time I rode into work.

No Indian today. The Red Fox had the area all to herself.

My wet self

Even the window washer's crane was gone.

When I came out after work I took a photo just to prove it.

It cleared off as I was riding home.

By the time I got to my alley the sun was peeking out.

This was completely unexpected. The evening rain went just south of us. I was able to go to the park and workout. Life is good.

• 57F/14C with rain and a thunderstorm in the area for the ride to work.
• 62F/17C and overcast, but clearing for the home ride.

An Eyeful of Sunrise

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

I didn't get up to witness the "Blood Moon", but I had an eyeful of sunrise on the way in.

The forecasters were right. It was a beautiful day.

They saying there is a 90% chance for rain tomorrow. That's pretty cocky. There is a chance most of the stuff will stay north. We'll see. The good news is it will be cool. If I need to wear the raingear I won't have a worry about being too warm.

When I came out after work there was some activity with the window washer's crane. It has been setting in the same spot for a long time now. I couldn't tell if these guys were there to pick it up or repair it. If it isn't there in the morning, I'm guessing that would be a clue.

The evening brought more Autumn skyscapes.

And I actually remembered to look to the East and not just the West.

• 52F/11C with a few clouds for the ride to work.
• 74F/23C and plenty enough clouds to make for an interesting sunset.

Hi Ho, Hi Ho, It's Back To Work I Go

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

While it was nice to have the time away from work and great memories were made, I will admit feeling a bit of relief to be back at it.

Autumn continues to give good sky. This is from this morning.

This was from yesterday. I looked at this sky and then at my to do list. The to do list could wait. I went for a nice 13 mile inline skate.

The one thing I did do on my to do list was check the tires on Billie and the Red Fox. The Red Fox needed gasoline as well. I spied this guy while I was out riding, I mean while I was getting gas. What a great name for a pest control business!

Today the Cardinals were hosting the Dodgers in the Game 4 of the first round of the National League Championship Series. The timing of the baseball game was perfect for me. I was headed home during the game. Traffic was a piece of cake. If the game had been earlier I could have run into the after game traffic. If it had been later I'd been in the middle of folks trying get to the game.

Tomorrow is supposed to be the pick weather day of the week. Rain is in the forecast for Thursday and Friday, but we'll see. Rain was in the forecast today, too, and perhaps it did rain somewhere.

• 60F/15.5C and cloudy for the ride to work.
• 77F/25C with a few clouds for the home ride.

Rain

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

Although it rain much of the night ...

The sun made a valiant effort to give me a sunrise.

Not long after I got to work the rains returned.

I managed to dodge the storms at lunch.

I even took a photo of the two diehards in the parking area. It was a red day.

Light rain was on the menu for the ride home. It took a while to get out of Downtown. There were a couple of accidents. This one plugged the entrance ramp to a major artery. Another had traffic backed up waiting to get on one of the interstates. Once out of Downtown and into the neighborhoods all was fine.

The sky looked threatening at times, but it never did rain very hard. While my raingear was wet enough to hang in the furnace room after I took it off, it wasn't wet enough for me to take it off before I came into the condo.

My friend Maggie rode home during the major deluge of the day. She said it was very intense and when she says a storm is intense her word can be trusted. Fortunately, she was riding a Spyder. Sometimes three wheels would be nice.

A quick Leo update. He is back to prowling the house a couple of hours before it is time for us to get up and preparing the house for our waking by knocking things off tables and shelves. Usually these are things which leave no damage but make great noise as they contact the floor. Yep, he's definitely feeling better.

I'll be taking tomorrow and Monday off. More Holidays. More music. More friends.

• 67F/19C and mostly overcast for the ride to work.
• 71F/22C and light rain for the home ride.

Another Sunrise

Yes, I rode to work today.

And . . .

Another day, another sunrise. Today a few more clouds. Still we are on a roll. There are tornado warnings to the West. We may see rain tomorrow.

I haven't mentioned it, but one of the streets I travel each day was re-striped while I was on holiday.You can see where the old lines went. At this intersection a whole lane was eliminated. A bike lane now runs the length of Tower Grove Park. I think this is a good thing. This is one of the streets where people have been known to pass me on the left. I'm not sure how this will change that. I do know each day this week I've seen someone pulled over and getting ticketed.

As the Park has become busier the traffic gurus have been doing things to slow traffic down on this stretch. Again, I think this is a good thing. In the time I've been commuting I've seen a definite uptick in pedestrian and bicycle traffic. The neighborhood is healthier.

Here's a better view of that truck. It's the Feed Your Vitality delivery truck it says. I had never heard of them until I read their truck on the way home tonight. Interesting.

• 63F/17C and some clouds for the ride to work.
• 87F/30.5C and nearly overcast for the ride home.