Winter Blast

It began with a need to go to the market for a couple of things.  I stepped outside and noticed it didn’t seem that bad.  No wind, sunny.  Not much of a decision here.  I got the commuter bike out and rode the mile to the store.  I did stop on the way to check on the membership for the town rec center gym.  $53 senior price for 6 months.  Not bad at all.

I got a few comments from friends at the market about bike riding today.  My one word answer? “Layers”.  The only cold I felt was near the end of the ride, my toes.  They were cold, but not uncomfortably so.

The ride took me part way down the peninsula on Sconticut Neck Road.  I stopped at a friends to say hello, but in reality it was to gloat about riding in this weather.  He invited me in for some warmth, but I declined and continued riding.  If the cows could stand it, well, so could I.

I got off the main road to ride the Phoenix MUP extension along the bay and the wind turbines.

On the main bike path, there are a couple of memorial benches placed by loved ones in their favorite spots.  When I stopped, just to look around, I startled a really big blue heron.  By the time I got my camera ready, it was long gone.  A couple of ducks who were in the same hidden spot, chose their getaway perfectly and I missed that photo also. I simply leaned back with my elbows shoulder height on the top of the bench behind me taking in the view.  I looked across the marsh at a house I had seen hundreds of times during my 30 plus years on this trail.  Today I saw it again for the first time.

Later in the evening, I realized that I had not purchased a lottery ticket my wife and I spoke about earlier in the day.  A friend told us that the state Megabucks had not had a jackpot winner since mid April.  Many years ago, we had a season ticket to that game and we remembered the combination we played unsuccessfully for 5 years.  One more dollar for tonight’s drawing has been wagered. Naturally I got to the store by bike to play our numbers, x-xx-xx-xx-32-35. The last two numbers were our ages back then.  We have both since doubled those numbers in age. We’ll see how the drawing goes this evening.