Ben Allgeier’s Ben Allgeier Blog: Post Eighteen

It has been a really long time since I last blogged. I hope I still know how to do it. I haven't stopped doing stuff though. I'm always riding and exploring and standing around looking at things.

Summer's ended and fall's come around. Snow geese came down from the Canadian arctic a few weeks ago, and they'll spend the winter here. I saw some down at Baker Wetlands, but really couldn't get a good look over the reeds without stepping in mud. (wasn't wearing hiking boots) So at first I thought they were trumpeter swans, and got super excited, but trumpeter swans are quite rare here in Kansas. Eventually I realized they were probably just snow geese. Still neat, definitely not an animal you see every day. They've come a long way from the high arctic.

It was relatively chilly today, like a high of 50, and I saw a flock of dark-eyed juncos (another winter resident) in the backyard. That's how you know it's really getting colder.

And I of course went on a ride today, but it wasn't even ten miles. My lungs don't work in the cold. I was breathing heavy and my head began to hurt from lack of oxygen, my muscles went anaerobic quickly when my cold lungs shrank up. That's how cold weather goes though, my rides are shorter. It's all good. (is it?)

I want to love every season, and I want to love winter but I just can't. My lungs stop working and I get the winter blues for no reason and it just never works out between us. I want to love winter but my body and subconscious mind try to stop me. Same goes for late fall.

So there you go, seasons change. I haven't been getting enough sleep, like 5 or 6 hours each day, and I really think it's been affecting my creativity the most. It really sucks. Here's some good photos of all kinds of things, photos from September to now.