Glorious Morning

This morning was glorious, not just the weather, but the fact that I didn't have to go to work.
I've been teaching six days a week, but one of my colleges just finished until Aug. 31, so I'm only working three days a week.
Don't feel bad for me though; the number of hours I work is pretty pitiful. It just mentally took its toll because I didn't have two full days off.
This morning, I decided to ride my bike to the gym. The bike trail is smooth and safe, but I take my life in my hands a bit getting to the bike trail.

Our town definitely needs to work on that. Part of the ride is along a four-lane road. I figured early in the morning, I should be safe.
After my workout at the gym, I got on my bike to ride back home, but the intense blue of the sky convinced me to keep going.

This low-head dam hasn't been removed yet.

I was one of those obnoxious people saying "Morning!" to anyone I passed. Most of them were on their way to work, however, so their greetings were not as effusive as mine.

My attempt at an artsy photo of downtown Columbus. 

On my way to the gym, I passed a family walking on the trail. A mother with a little boy, maybe five  years old, and a grandmother. When I rode my bike to downtown Columbus, I passed them again. They had walked all that way. I can't imagine my kids able to walk that far when they were little. People have lives that we know nothing about. They greeted me with a cheery hello each time I saw them, because I turned around from downtown and rode back home.

On the bike path near Confluence Park, which is where the Scioto and Olentangy rivers come together, I saw a love lock. Etched on the lock were the names Chris and Sara. Then the date, 7/13/09. Since it's the only lock attached there since 2009, I guess this bridge isn't going to become one of those "love locks" bridges that becomes weighed down by locks.

Here's the lock on the bridge. 

When I returned home, I convinced Grace to get out of bed and to walk to the coffee shop with me. Usually, in August, the air in Ohio is heavy with humidity, but the past few days, the humidity has dispersed and that makes the sky sparkle.
We enjoyed a bonding mother/daughter time before she had to get ready for work.
Then Tucker came into the kitchen,  ready for work, and we actually had a good talk. He's going to consider maybe going back to college. I'll take that little sign of hope.

Tour de Columbus

In honor of the Tour de France (remember emphasis on France for July), I took a bike ride this morning.
I was sick yesterday, sore throat and aches, so when I tried to run this morning, I didn't get far. Instead, I walked to get coffee. I tried some P90x exercise. I made some French toast for Tucker before he went to work, still my mood was zooming south. I decided to try to pull up from my plunging mood with a bike ride.
I have to go about a mile on the road until I get to the bike path. Once on the path, I tried to live in the moment. I felt the cool wind on my arms and cheeks. I heard the sound of traffic in the bridges that passed over the path.
The sky was a beautiful blue, fighting the haze that will come as the temperatures rise today.

This is a shot across the Scioto River of an old high school that now houses our Science museum called COSI.

As I cycled down the trail, I smelled the earth and the trees damp still from last night's rain.
The sun was slowly rising from the east making shadows of trees on the black bike path.

I saw traffic standing still as the city closed streets in preparation for the July 4th celebration. I saw families camping out in their tents to save their spot for firework viewing. The temptature is supposed to be in the 90s the next week. I can't imagine the celebration is that appealing, to camp out for two days before the fireworks.
The families who were not camping had cordonned off spots in the grass with yellow and orange caution tape.

I swerved through a family of geese and they hissed at me.
I saw city worker after city worker preparing for the celebration.
Then I biked south of the city past the fountains

 to the Audubon center where the sounds of birds mingled with the far off drone of traffic.

Hoping to leave my bad mood behind, I biked home again.
No sprints. No mountains. No winners or losers.
 Just me and my bike on a lovely, breezy day.

Saturday Snapshot -- Great Blue Heron

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post on Alyce's blog At Home With Books. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.

While riding my bike along the Scioto River to the Columbus Audubon Center recently, I stopped to take this picture of the skyline with this cool new arching bridge in the foreground.


If I hadn't stopped for the photo, I would not have noticed the fearless hunter in the lower right corner of this picture. A great blue heron.


I didn't disturb him. He didn't move the entire time I was there. He stood and watched the falling water, ready for any stunned prey that toppled over the dam.

He must not have gotten the report about the Audubon Center downriver, or I'm sure he would have stopped there.

Saturday Snapshots

To participate in the Saturday Snapshot meme post a photo that you (or a friend or family member) have taken then leave a direct link to your post on Alyce's blog At Home With Books. Photos can be old or new, and be of any subject as long as they are clean and appropriate for all eyes to see. How much detail you give in the caption is entirely up to you. Please don’t post random photos that you find online.
Columbus just opened a new park along the riverfront. It's call the Scioto Mile.
Along the mile are columns with pergolas above and some metal porch swings. Fountains of fish spewing water line the walkway.

And large shallow plates overflow with flowers.

I wondered where everyone was going, until we came to the end -- filled with fountains that shoot up from the ground and spritz down from above. On this hot day, the park was filled with people. All I could think was "Oh, the humanity!"

I caught these girls with the sun behind them enjoying relief from the heat.

Biking to the Birds

Today the weather turned cool after a week of mid-90 degree days. Earl and I decided to go for a bike ride. We realized that we didn't need to limit our bike rides to trips to Monet's Garden -- our last recreational bike ride. And, lest you forget, that trip was full of mistakes, like missing a train and following the wrong man down the road. You can read about it here: http://paulita-ponderings.blogspot.com/2010/04/jai-trompe.html (I don't know why my links won't work in my posts, but it is frustrating.) .
From our house we rode to the bike trail that follows the Olentangy River. Workers are fixing the highway over the trail and I caught a picture of the sparks cascading down the concrete.
The bike trail leads to the confluence of the Olentangy and the Scioto rivers before it heads toward downtown Columbus. The bike trail is like a tourist guide. It leads past COSI, the museum of Science and Industry. It also goes past the Santa Maria, a replica of the ship that Columbus took on his first trip to the New World. The trail also streaks past the Ohio Supreme Court building, which has some gorgeous painting and architecture.
Unfortunately, that's where we ran into trouble and had to take to the streets instead of the bike trail because the city is building a promenade along the river. We had to ride through a construction zone then a busy street in the brewery district before we got to the park.
Earl rode on to the Audubon building while I checked out the park. If my kids were still little and we were homeschooling, this place would be my new hangout. There are sand volleyball pits, a climbing wall and playgrounds over rubber surface. I walked up to the third stage of a tower to survey my kingdom, well, the park around me.
While Earl waited for me to catch up, he sat in a chair in front of the Audubon building. That is him waving wildly. I told him it looked as if he was being attacked by the giant bird statue.
The audubon building is full of photos of birds that have been spotted along the river, wetlands and fields of wildflowers in the area. This section of the river has been known by bird watchers for a long time because migrating birds stop here every spring and fall.
The park has started growing fields of wild flowers, and birds flitted among the plants. The park also had some more orderly flower gardens, again not quite rivaling Monet's Garden, but it is the first year for the metro park.

We found a less circuitous route home and managed to avoid much of the road construction. Here's the new Main Street bridge that is not open yet, but has a sleek look to it in front of the skyline.
Trying to keep the whole vacation motif going, we stopped at a coffee shop before we returned home. Earl had an iced tea and I had a lemonade, squeezed fresh and so bitter that it made me pucker.
It wasn't a vacation day for either of us, but I'm glad we got to snatch some of the enjoyment that we find as tourists in other cities.