Postcard from the Bike Trail

When we were in Buffalo, I rode my bike almost every day. Some might judge the terrain there uninspiring-- flat streets, square green yards, and cookie-cutter architecture, but that easy-riding was just what I needed to get back to an activity I love and have neglected for the last year or so. The weather was a plus, too: never did the temperature top 81.

So this afternoon I took advantage of our unseasonably cool weather and set off for a thirty minute ride. I didn't want to overdo my first home workout, but hills and humidity immediately conspired to make me question my judgment. I kept pedaling, though, past townhomes, apartments, condos, hotels, community gardens, a power station, parks and rec centers.

20 minutes later the guy passed out on the discarded leather love seat by the dumpster marked my turnaround point, and so I rode on home, glad that I had gotten out there.

E Pluribus Unum

What better way to celebrate the strength of our nation than to go to a movie by a Mexican-American director, play a Japanese board game, eat Vietnamese summer rolls, and watch a display of fireworks that were hand-made in China?

Happy Birthday America!

All for One

In the summer of '75 I saw my first PG-rated movie. The film was Jaws: "You're going to jump the first time you see the shark," my cousin warned us, and I was hooked. I couldn't wait to be terrified of the ocean.

I almost didn't see it at all, though. That year, I turned thirteen, my brother was eleven, and my sister, just nine. In our family, seniority didn't count for anything (probably because my parents were both younger children). For example, the three of us had the same bed time, no matter what, until I left for boarding school. Any adjustment for me, as I got older, applied to the two of them as well. And when we were left home alone? Their mantra was clear: "You are not the boss of us!"

But that summer, I had to put my foot down. How was it possibly fair that we should all be able to go to see a movie that wasn't rated G when I was so much older than they were? When my argument fell on my mother's deaf ears I tried a tearful tantrum, but in response she gave me a choice. Either we all went, or none of us did.

So...

the three of us all jumped the first time we saw that shark.

The Thought that Counts

All Ye Faithful

I glanced out the kitchen window the other night and noticed two very bright objects gleaming in the western sky. While there are many drawbacks to the constant accessability to screens of all kinds, being able to find out what something is right away does not rank among them to me. Hence I pulled out my trusty smart phone and launched the astronomy app that, living in such an urban area as I do, I rarely have use for. Venus and Jupiter were clearly visible on both the virtual horizon and the real one in front of me. Later I would find out that around 2000 years ago such a conjunction of those planets, along with the star Regulus, was called the Star of Bethlehem.

"Look! There's Venus and Jupiter!" I said to Heidi's mom.

"How do you know that?" she replied skeptically.

"Because I looked it up," I answered, hoping that my annoyance was not audible.

"Hmm," she said and continued her business. It wasn't long before Heidi came into the kitchen.

"Look! There's Venus and Jupiter!" I told her.

"How do you know?" she said.

I sighed with frustration.

"No really," she continued, "I want to know how you know, so I can know, too."

I happily explained.

It's My Birthday

I'm a take-charge kind of a gal and so this morning I had some definite ideas about how I wanted to spend my birthday. First I wanted to be outside if possible, and I wanted to do something I'd never done before. When at first the weather threatened to drizzle all day, the Theodore Roosevelt Inauguration Site was at the top of my list.

"Isn't it funny," I said to Heidi,"that really? Teddy Roosevelt is not even close to my favorite president, and yet it seems that we have been to a lot of his places." I was referring to Roosevelt Island and Roosevelt National Park, and now this.

But as luck would have it, the weather cleared, and soon Heidi, Louise, and I were off to Old Fort Niagara, an almost 400 year old bastion located  on Lake Ontario at the mouth of the Niagara River. We spent the afternoon wandering the amazingly well-preserved site learning the history of its Indian, French, British, and American occupants. Then we drove home along the wide river, the Canadian side of the river to our left. We stopped in Lewiston and strolled through a riverside park that happened to mark the final stop in the Underground Railroad. Here, residents of the town rowed escaped slaves across the Niagara to Canada. I bought a bottle of water, and paying with a 20, my change was 18.65, the year the Civil War ended.

Home at last, I prepared a dinner of steamed shrimp, grilled steak, baked potato, and salad, and at the table I sat back and sighed. "Well, I had a really great day!"

Heidi's mom laughed. "Really? You drove and you made dinner!"

"I know," I said, "but I like to drive, and I like to cook, especially because I get to go where I want and eat what I like!"

There was no argument there.

Sticking Around

After a fun and eventful week in Buffalo, we were supposed to head home to Virginia today, but knowing that smilie Kyle would be in town tomorrow made it seem silly to leave without spending some time with him. So, we put off packing and spent the day hanging out with Heidi's folks instead. The weather was beautiful, and Isabel seems content to enjoy it. As anxious as we are to get home, here is pretty swell, too.