Keep Pedaling

Posted this polyglot video to my IG stories which resulted in me chit-chatting with someone that I newly know and told her that I regretted not following through on Spanish in high school and she genuinely made me laugh out loud when she responded that she had a lot of high school regrets.

Her comment just reminded me that we're never the only one who experienced or are experiencing something...

Since rain is on tap for almost every day next week, hefted my bike out of the basement, put on sunscreen and headed to the riverfront.

It was not a long ride -- just enough for me to stretch my legs and also give them a pep talk -- Keep going; keep pedaling.

It's kind of funny. I was thinking about a time that Alison and I were biking and she so easily spotted these turtles. When I looked at my pictures when I got home, was surprised to see the turtle in the second picture.

On my way to the riverfront, listened to my next to last episode of Floodlines. Hope that a book is forthcoming.

More Attention

Salvia

Because I've been walking more, I've paid more attention to how spring unfolds: crocuses, forsythia, daffodils, hyacinths, tulips, red bud trees, irises, peonies.

Thought that I was going  to have so much time to unclutter and organize and I do have more time but the spirit is not willing.

Find myself loosening my grip on the nightly meditation sessions and the Saturday dharma talk that I had been tuning into but I'm still doing Zoom-ba and yoga almost daily.

On Saturday, drove my mother's car to a suburb since I had to jump start it. My mother has an older-ish car so I'm unable to hook up my iPod so I turned the radio to NPR. Haven't listened to Snap Judgement in ages; the Mother's Day Special was on and the part about the mother who made her own Ebola suit was inspiring...

Allium

I also just listened to Give It To Me Straight, Doc on Michael Moore's Rumble podcast and that was helpful.

I've tried a couple of new recipes, including a Sweet Potato Chickpea Buddha Bowl from
The Minimalist Baker.  It's my kind of bowl. Will tinker with it next time -- adding, possibly, mushrooms, making the sauce thinner -- maybe different. I also liked adding a little hot sauce to it.

Oh yeah, my bowl ended up not being vegetarian as I added grilled chicken...

I'm currently reading Driving Over Lemons. I get into these non-fiction zones and that's where I'm at right now.

I also listened to the sweetest New York Times' The Daily podcast with Rick Steves. He keeps "marijuana" journals and he read from one during this episode and it made me laugh out loud. Speaking of marijuana, I keep thinking about Jamaica.

Stickyweed a.k.a. Catchweed a.k.a. all over the yard...

All in all, trying to be vigilant about wearing masks, hand-washing, wiping down surfaces and not touching my face. You know, trying to keep the virus at bay.

I think that it was Ibram X. Kendi who talked about the murder of Ahmaud Arbery and the virus of racism. I keep having to check the calendar but it does not feel like 2020.

Roads Less Traveled

Route to Evade

Participated in my first birthday parade. One of my yoga classmates’ birthday was on Tuesday so some of us met last Sunday to drive through her cul-de-sac to wish her a happy birthday...

As we gathered on the parking lot, even our cars physically distancing, had a strange sensation that I had recently met with my classmates then remembered that we had been on a Zoom call...

One of the most endearing things that I've seen has been yoga teachers who haven't done live social media. It's so sweet to see them watch the screen and go, "I don't know if this is on. My son set it up for me" or the ones who are like, "I'm not going to touch this thing in case I disconnect everyone."

Roxane Gay also had me chuckling. She announced on Twitter that she was giving out $1,000 dollars in one hundred dollar increments and she encouraged people to send their Venmo information with a caveat, I'm old and I don't read those bar codes." Also cool was the fact that others stepped in when they saw what she was doing...

There's a Zumba teacher that I've been able to reconnect with since gyms shut down. She recommended this other teacher, Rawlins Apilado, for a kickboxing and kettlebell class.

Because it was an Instagram Live class, I wanted to look into it before it disappeared. I did about twenty minutes and enjoyed it. It was definitely nice to swing the kettlebell again.

Went for my first bike ride of 2020 on Saturday and the struggle was real. Maybe my first outing should not have been on an 80-degree day. I also wore a mask but don't think there was a need because not a lot of cyclists were out...

Only 'fro on this stretch of the road...

Cut the grass today against my will. It's been less than two weeks since I cut it but the rain has been generous. I know, April showers.