So the new used mountain bike is fantastic (thanks Freddie!). Took my first real dirt ride in years today. The sky was blue, the ground was dry, the cows were friendly. I took this photo of my rad pedal gash with my phone at the end. No idea why it distorted this way, but it’s true that my legs did feel a little noodley.
This is the end point of my favorite walk. I’d walk it every day if I could, but it’s kind of a long drive to get there.
Here’s what it looked like in the spring and here’s what it looks like in the fall.
Decided to buy a used bike to replace the one that got stolen. Gonna get one of Zion Cycles 2009 rentals.
Have to go pick it up.
Bummer… huh.
I got a package from Rachel right around my birthday last year. In it was a pair of fingerless gloves with alien appliques sewn on. I love fingerless gloves because I often work in freezing edit bays and my hands get cold. These were particularly glorious because they were soft, stretchy fleece. So comfy!
When I opened the package, the gloves seemed familiar, but I couldn’t remember where we’d seen them together. She and Ben had been out of the country and then and had been in Austin for a year, so we hadn’t spent much time together. Turns out she’d peeked at what I had favorited on etsy.com and had ordered them! Very sneaky!
I loved those gloves so much. I wore them all last winter, indoors and out. This summer they became my favorite bike gloves—which is why they were in my handlebar bag when my bike was stolen last month. I was very sad to lose my bike, but ESPECIALLY sad to lose those gloves.
La Verne called this weekend to get my mailing address. She said she had found something really “special” for me. My immediate reaction was Uh Oh. She’s famous for giving “special” gifts. She’s had a gift exchange with one friend that’s gone on for probably two decades. They give the same horrible tchotchke back and forth until one of them finds something even worse to give. For years it was a hideous Ronald McDonald coin bank. They’d find a way to sneak it into the other person’s house or car, sometimes not to be discovered for weeks. One day you look up at your bookshelf and realize that Ronald McDonald is there. They don’t even live in the same town, which means they sometimes deviously employ the aid of strangers who happen to be going that way.
So yes, I was happy (and relieved) to find that she’d gotten me another pair of fingerless alien gloves! I had assumed they were gone for good because the girl’s etsy site said sold out. But you just can’t stop my sneaky thoughtful friends!
