For the curious reader of science fiction (scifi) and fantasy
Captain Jack and I went for a little bike ride yesterday, to enjoy the pleasant evening. I found us riding straight into a breathtaking view of a slender, crescent moon, and bright Venus just above it. This picture gives just a hint. (What is it about stunning views of the sky in real life, and what you get on your phone camera—even a good camera?) Let’s zoom in…
Here’s the captain, wondering why we’ve stopped.
Today’s the annual Porchfest here in Arlington. All around town, musicians have set up on porches and in driveways, playing music for passers-by to enjoy. Here are a couple I came across in my neighborhood while walking Captain Jack and McDuff. Sometimes we get some visual art, as well! This is one of the things I love about my town.
Here’s a skiing event you might have missed in NBC’s coverage of the PyeongChang Winter Games: Alpine Skiing with Robots!
It’s done, and everything works! The dogs can now run free in our backyard! And I can clean up the work bench and put away the tools, because it’s done! And if I do say so myself, I think it looks pretty frickin’ good!
None too soon, either. The temperatures are dropping (I could see my breath as I was staining wood*), and the first real snow of the season is predicted for tomorrow! Nothing like cutting it close!
*Not the recommended conditions for staining wood.
It’s been a few years since I last had a chance to do any private flying. But I’m pretty sure I never missed this when I performed a preflight on a rented Cessna. Look for a third passenger somewhere around the 35 second mark.
More on the story here.
I don’t know if I mentioned this earlier, but I’ve added bicycling to my own exercise routine. I still love rollerblading, but it’s so weather dependent (you want the path to be really dry and relatively clear of twigs and leaves, etc.) that I was losing too much outdoor exercise time to weather. Yes, I walk Captain Jack every day, but that’s not the same thing.
Regular bikes hurt my back, but last winter I took advantage of a sale to buy a recumbent bike. I love it! There was a definite learning curve in riding it: the balance and steering feel very different from a regular bike, but after a while I got the hang of it, and now I get out on it at least as often as I do on skates. Here’s what it looks like:
It’s low slung, and I do feel a little vulnerable riding on the street with it. But practically all the riding I do is on the bike path that starts two blocks from our house, and goes for eleven miles, so mostly I’m off the street, anyway.
If you hear a ding behind you, that could be me! Passing on your left!
Continuing my recent series…
My friend Victoria Merriman is an avid bicyclist. So much so that when her professional and romantic lives simultaneously imploded, a few years ago, she decided to bike across the United States, to get it out of her system -and, as they say, see the U.S.A. She blogged about it, and later decided to transform her blog recollections into a memoir. That memoir is now published, in ebook in the Kindle store, and in print in the Createspace store. It’s called Finding Spoons: A Love Story on Two Wheels.
If you visit her website, you can read a sample chapter, and also about how through September, $5 from every sale is going to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.
You can also get a little more back story on the blog of another friend, Erica Charis.