Reflections

Recently, I turned 50. Wow. It's been a time of reflection of thinking of times past and jumping forward into future plans. And you know what I've learned in all these years? Just be in the present. Simple, yet profound. In the present, there isn't any place for regret or worry. Those things cannot exist in the here and now. As I like to say, "It is what it is." Mindfulness. Just being. It's been liberating to try to retrain my brain to think this way. It's been like having a little zen garden I tend to in my brain that I can go & sit and rest. It's peaceful and calm.

As one of my favorite authors says,"Life can be found only in the present moment. The past is gone, the future is not yet here, and if we do not go back to ourselves in the present moment, we cannot be in touch with life." ~Thich Nhat Hanh This is the journey I am on.

To live a more authentic, present, beautiful life full of peace and goodwill... to have an acceptance of oneself, and live each moment with an appreciation of what it is and who is in it. "This is a very important practice. Live your daily life in a way that you never lose yourself. When you are carried away with your worries, fears, cravings, anger, and desire, you run away from yourself and you lose yourself. The practice is always to go back to oneself." ~Thich Nhat Hanh. Peace

It's a New Year!

With all this gorgeous weather we've been having, we've been riding our bikes a lot! Chilly and lots of sunshine... it's been an awesome start to our winter and with the days getting incrementally longer --Yahoo is what I'm sayin' :-D

Took my son to his life skills class... he's 5 years old and getting a might too big for the trailer, but it's the only way I can tow him since my bike has the hardware attached for the Travoy (a posting coming soon about that totally cool trailer) and a rack. He's going on 70 lbs, sooo... I'll probably end up with some mongo-sized thighs (heh heh)



Also tried out our dog Kiki, a Schnauzer-Terrier mix in the trailer. Isn't she just the cutest thang? I thought, hmm, maybe I'll bring her to her next grooming appointment this way. Uh. No. She did not do well. How quickly they forget socialization skills. She started lunging & trying to get out when I went over a bump.



Fortunately, I got her this great harness that we use in her sky box in the car (another fun post I'll do, too). I clipped her into the hook that was in the child-restraint straps so she was secure, but my heart jumped out of its socket a few times as she kept lunging at various sights: older gentleman using a walker, a sweet young couple walking hand-in-hand. And her bark? Oiy. Not good. High pitched and rapid. But despite all these things, I couldn't love her more than I already do. She is the sweetest, cutest dog and she brings me great joy! I'm also determined to keep taking her out to get used to it and to start up the socialization process --again.



Later in the day, after we got back from my son's sped class, I dropped him off with his older sisters for a home snack & rest & I went on to pick up a prescription for my other son and onwards to Costco to do some grocery shopping using the Burley. Traffic's been super heavy lately, more so than at the holiday time, which I don't really understand. Was miffed that the doctor's office doesn't have any bicycle parking. When I complained later to one of my daughters, she said, "Mom, why would you need bicycle parking when it's at a place for sick people?" Precisely! Maybe people wouldn't get sick so much if they bicycled.

Parking at Costco was interesting. It's at the front which is good for visibility for securing a bike; however, the downside is feeling on show and possibly being in the way of all the carts & people. I brought about 4-5 cloth bags to help me gauge how many groceries to buy that'll fit in the Burley and it worked perfect. Walked on over to Whole Foods first to pick up some organic corn meal (since corn is one of those grains that gets heavily sprayed), pinto beans & bananas. After pricing the huge price difference in bulk vs. packaged, I got the beans & corn meal in bulk and *saved* about $4 between the two. I put those things in the back of the Burley and went onto Costco to get the big portion of our shopping done. With a family of six, and two of those are teens... 'nuff said. Got shopping done in record time: 15 minutes... helps to know you're limited in what you can carry!



Got home just before it was dark and put on some mashed potatoes, gravy & roasted chicken. Hearty and delicious. Now to get a cup of hot tea and get into some comfy jammies and relax and plan out this week's errands by bike.

"Free Hugs"

This video has a lot of meaning to it, especially at this time of year. Gets ya thinking about how hard is it really to be connected to people these days? If each hug you gave was like a domino tile, think of all the lives that could overlap and in one concerted act, a thing of amazement and beauty could unfold and lay for the universe to behold.

Commuting in the Hood

I've been perusing the internet for good biking & walking routes and came upon a great way to determine the viability of a neighborhood. Take a look at Walk Score. It's a way of measuring the distance of amenities to home and offers good insight into the walkability or bike-ability of one's neighborhood.

Our neighborhood only scored 25/100 and frankly, I agree with the scoring. There are far too little sidewalks, bus depots, and bike lanes. Markets are at least 2 to 3 miles away. With my score as "car dependent" -I'll be fighting that label with each pedal stroke or foot pressed on pavement. Big changes can happen in small ways.

"If I Ride"

Came across this great video created by People For Bikes.

After riding to the post office today and later taking my 60 lb son in our good ol' Burley trailer to pick up some groceries on a stormy, rainy day (Mighty Mouse is back! (hee hee), feeling very inspired by this poem video. This says it all. Enjoy!

Nuts!

Seeing that autumn is here and harvesting is upon us, I couldn't help but to get a good giggle from this. Over the years, we've had many lil trickster squirrels chattering and leaping from tree to tree and stowing away their harvest for the winter. I always thought that a squirrel would look awfully cute in a scarf, but hmm, now I wonder if it'd be a bit underdressed ;-)

Spinning

What a perfect combo... taking our bikes for a spin while packing along the spinning wheel! We took our boys to the local park to let them play in the pond and build sand castles.


My Sweetie packed along his guitar and I packed along my wheel. That Burley trailer/stroller has been serving our family for over 17 years. We've taken our children over mountain trails, through city streets, along newspaper delivery routes, in rain, snow, sleet, ice, flooded roads. I've loaded it with eight full grocery sacks. It's carried every one of our children and foster kids. My lil buggy has been one of the most important pieces of equipment I've owned as it's helped us to build so many memories. Now, with all the kids too big to ride in it, it's toting around my wheel or groceries, or supplies for picnics. I hope to continue to use it to save money (on gas), build health (through exercise), and continue making more memories.