Post Eleven

     I went & rode to Lecompton recently. It was a pretty ride, but one for bikes with wider tires then I have. It rattled so much that my bell came loose. I just took it off and stashed it in the frame bag. It was 20 miles, the longest ride so far on the crazy blue bike. I didn't expect so many hills! Maybe it's because I was mostly riding on the border between the flood plain and the plain plain.

    It was a beautiful ride though, past farmhouses and stands of trees with the river poking out through them, an occasional empty can of light beer along the road. The birds were pretty vocal, probably talking about their big plans for spring. I saw a little kestrel watching me. I often see them perched on power lines by roads. There was a donkey too. I've got to go back in the summer when everything's green.

     The way back was awful, I went on the paved roads to avoid the rough gravel, but that was a mistake because there were way more cars whizzing by at 50ish miles an hour, and less trees to block the wind. I had to walk my bike a tiny bit, one of the downsides of riding a fixed gear.

    And that wind was really something. I'd guess I was in a headwind of at least 15mph almost the whole way home. Along with the hills it made for a frankly miserable journey. Some would call that "type 2 fun". I wouldn't call it fun at all. It was like the earth was telling me to stay in Lecompton, but why would I ever want to do that? 

    Once I got into town I pulled over at the Sinclair on River Ridge and North Iowa to get a chocolate milk. One thing about being exhausted that's nice is everything tastes better, especially if it has lots of sugar and fat.

    I drove for the first time in at least 6 months the other day, in Bailey Lombardo's car, at the Lied Center parking lot. Wren and Abby were there too, they're teaching Wren to drive. I'm starting to actually want to learn to drive now, so I guess that's a good thing.

    Check out post 10 too, it's just some photos. They're good photos.

    I went out in the garden picking chives to put on top of baked potatoes when I saw what really seems to be parsley popping up out of the ground. It was right next to one of our garden beds. I guess this is the offspring of some parsley we grew last year or the year before. I can’t remember us growing parsley though.
    Going back to chives, I think they might be the most common edible plant in Lawrence, at least this time of year. Go pick some and try it, if you aren’t already using wild chives in your kitchen.