A Break

One of my aunts gave me a break from caregiving yesterday so that I could go bicycling. The weather was great (70-ish degrees) and, now that it's 35 degrees, I really appreciate that I had the opportunity to get out and go on an adventure. Needless to say: it was also wild that it was so warm in November.

I am such a casual bicyclist. Love to stop an eat an orange and listen to the Mississippi River... 

I'm doing a plank challenge and I'm pretty sure that it's the reason that I was able to make it up the hills. Still walked my bike up one but, overall, was pleased with my outing.

After returning home and sitting for awhile, I could feel the soreness in my body so I took the time to do yoga and focused on hip-openers. While doing frog pose, I totally said, "Ribbit."

When It Comes To Swimming

After more than a year, went back to the swimming pool. Of course, things have changed. You have to reserve your time online, temperatures are taken and masks are to be worn until you get to your lane. Brought a plastic bag along with me so that I could put my mask in there. 

Joked with the 'Fugee that I didn't know if I'd still be able to swim but all went well. As I swam, so many things crossed my mind, including the time that I sprained my ankle but asked the doctor if I'd be able to swim. 

Thought about how my desire to learn how to swim was born out of being at the 'Fugee's pool and watching kids fearlessly jump into the deeper end and how I didn't know anyone with a pool up until then and also how the 'Fugee once told me, "I wasn't supposed to meet you" which made me think of Lisel Mueller's poem, Alive Together. 

Swam 20 laps and this woman in the locker room complimented me and it's so funny because I totally have imposter syndrome when it comes to swimming...

Didn't bother to take my bike to the shop because I was on it so little last year. Inflated the tires, hoisted it out of the basement and headed to the Riverfront Trail. Only, it's hard to get to the riverfront so I headed out Highway 70 which made me think of going to the airport for trips. 

Didn't ride for long but it was a gorgeous day and I enjoyed riding along the Mississippi River. 

Love this part of the trail. Is it anything special? Probably not. Maybe it's just how nature makes you feel.

I'm trying to grow Zinnias and probably should have just tried to plant the seed directly in the ground. This should be interesting. 

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.

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.

Wonder

Mighty Mississippi

I have bicycled more this month than I've bicycled all year.

I find myself craving more sleep on Saturdays and even 10:40 a.m. seems too early to exit the house for Zumba.

Saturday was a really good day for bicycling too -- left the house around 11:30 for a short ride, about seven miles, but I wasn't looking to ride for a long time so it worked for me. 

Saw fishermen as I usually do and I wonder if I would eat something out of the Mississippi River. Mentioned it to my brother and he'd seen a documentary, City Limits Fishing. Apparently, the Mississippi has lots of catfish. 

The workday was horrid. Didn't even feel like going to Monday Zumba which is usually my end-of-workday prize but I did go and felt better afterward.

Spring Rider

Went to a slow flow/restorative yoga class on Friday and spotted Stacy after class since it was a yoga teacher training weekend.

She told me and another yoga teacher "This is not a sustainable lifestyle." Tell me about it...

One of my colleagues that's in her 20's said that she feels like a robot. Tell me about it...

Before I saw Stacy on Friday, I saw a post that she put on social media saying that she had five days off between now and the end of the year. She wants to collaborate with more people but... time.

I have given up on how frequently I wash my hair, clean out the fish tank etc...

Went for a bike ride on Saturday and as I headed that way, I thought about how I probably would have to wear my long-sleeved shirt around my waist. Wrong! I had forgotten about how it's colder around water. I'm such a spring/summer rider that it didn't occur to me that it would be cold and windy. The weather was definitely an incentive to keep moving though.

Geese Strategy

Saw this sweet story on CBS Sunday morning about this 93-year-old who opened a bakery. The story provided much needed inspiration.

Starting Somewhere Else

There have been times when I've been on the St. Louis Riverfront Trail and it's felt like a vacation. Maybe it's the combination of being unplugged, chatting with people and seeing the animals that live there.

At some point during the week, I saw that the temperature would be perfect and I also saw that part of the trail is closed for construction. No matter, I plotted to start at the "end" of the route as opposed to the "beginning."

Got to the Chain of Rocks Bridge and saw that they had closed the parking lot so I turned around and started somewhere else. Also debated about whether I wanted to actually go back in the direction of the bridge because there are wicked hills on that part of the trail.

In the end, decided to give myself a gentle bike ride and I walked my bike up the hills and I didn't try to get to the middle of the bridge. I've only been on my bike about two times this year so I wanted to ease my way back in. So, today, I gave myself the gift of a gentle ride and a pass on chores.

The hill that doesn't look very hilly in this picture.

By the way, Gingerzingi, it was totally brave of you to take that level three vacation...

I Want...

Riverfront Trail

Picked up an ice coffee before I went to the 'Fugee's last night because, without the coffee, I doubt that I would have made it through Ice Mother.

During one scene in the movie, I was thinking it as the 'Fugee said it, You hardly see older people having sex in movies. Later on, the 'Fugee wondered what was going to happen with the story because it's a foreign film. Her speculation was correct because we were left at the end of the movie wanting more plot...

We also watched the Turkey episode of Bare Feet. I want to go to Turkey and stay in the Cappadocia Cave Suites.

Made plans to bicycle with Alison whose been itching to try out her new bike. Not sure what they make these "workhorse" bikes out of but my bike was no match. I had a hard time keeping up with Alison. Before, we used to ride side-by-side. However, Alison said she felt like she was struggling on her 20-year-old bike. Not sure how the biking will work out in the future. The difference in bikes is why I seldom bike with Patti and her crew.

At any rate, we took a break around mile eight and this woman commented that we were sitting in the sun. There is really no good place to sit until the organization that maintains the trails finishes with this one shelter/picnic area.

The woman, Erma, had on all the accoutrements of a veteran bicyclist: jersey, cycling shoes, a helmet with a mirror etc. I asked Erma about her average mileage and she said 15 is her low side and 40 is on the high end. Age has slowed me down. I told her that there was no comment from me as the most I've ever done is 20 something miles...

We finished our ride and since I was already dirty, I clipped a few pressing weeds then cleaned up.

Spent the rest of my time hanging up clothes, hand washing a few items and looking for my best pair of glasses that had been missing since Tuesday. Finally, I looked in my swim bag again and the glasses where there.

Went grocery shopping and when I came back, heard an owl. A couple of neighbors heard it too. Hearing the owl was a nice way to end the day.

Goings-On

Didn't go to Zumba yesterday because I saw that the regular teacher had something come up unexpectedly at work. It turns out that she got nominated for an award for choreography that she did for a school play.

I walked back to work. Got in about 8,000 steps but still felt the urge to bicycle so I did. Went for a short ride -- about five miles.

Today I walked back to work after lunch again. Was feeling sluggish so I didn't go swimming. Instead, I siphoned dirty water out of the fish tank which was an overdue task then I pulled more weeds out of the backyard since tomorrow is yard trash day.

Spotted on my walk; he's been up there for a while.

Also spotted on my walk.

Looked for my good glasses for about 30 minutes. Overall, just feeling tapped out.

The staff appreciation committee came around with coffee, bagels and Danishes. I passed up on the bread products because I had eaten breakfast but I did get coffee which took my total up to about 24 ounces for the day.

Light Roast

Since I'm walking, I'm listening to podcasts again and a lot of them are the usual suspects like The Moth and Death, Sex and Money. I also listened to Yoga Girl's podcast, From the Heart, for the first time and really liked it -- probably because it was about travel. I also enjoyed listening to Yoga Girl and her husband; it was a nice exchange.

Took the picture below as I bicycled on Monday. Kind of like that it's crooked.

The road less traveled?

Oh yeah, I'm also enjoying Mickela Mizzoli's Bare Feet.

Anytime

A couple of weeks ago, told Patti that I was jonesing for brunch at a place in her neighborhood and she said Anytime.

Well, anytime was today. At first, I was going to try for Zumba and then thought about the nice weather so I brought up biking. Yes, I brought up biking knowing that Patti has a bike with the thin wheels and she also has those clip on shoes. 

At some point, Patti emailed me to say that her son's mother-in-law would be joining us for brunch and bicycling. The brunch crowd got bigger and the bicycling crew expanded by one. 

We paused after the scrumptious brunch, debated about how many layers of clothing to put on then met up with one member of our bicycling crew along the trail. 

Jessica is trying to convince me to wear a helmet, get a road bike and cycling shoes. She swears that road bikes make all the difference as far as struggling less. Don't think I'll be getting a bike soon but if someone wants to give me one for Christmas, I won't return the bike.

Because I'm unfamiliar with the trails in Illinois, I couldn't gauge how far we'd bicycled or how much road we had to cover. When we got back to Patti's house, she declared that we had gone 15.2 miles and it totally felt like it. Also of note, I have never bicycled in December. 

*Part of the regular menu... I cracked up when the server said that Patti's pillow bread had been toasted with bacon fat.

S Is For...

Trying to squash this subtle panicky feeling that I have on Saturday night that I didn't get enough done and that I will never be able to make a dent in my to-do list. There's also the dread of getting a step closer to Monday but it's hard to complain when I spent almost two hours on the Riverfront Trail. It's a wonder that I even made it to the trail because I didn't get out of bed until after nine and I pushed myself to get out of said bed then.

Tried to connect with one my uncles about biking but he was slow to respond. Thought about going to an 11:00 a.m. Zumba class but that "deadline" came and went so I decided that I had to take advantage of this 88 degree day so I managed to get stuff out of my car, take the wheel off my bike and head downtown even though I wasn't totally feeling it. Set a goal of 10 miles plus decided to explore the new part of the trail that goes by the Arch. It's really nice but I miss the steps that used to be under the Arch but I will say that the new ramp-like construction makes it more accessible for people who wouldn't be able to deal with steps.

I saw a little snake and a big snake and I saw a beaver! Tried to get a picture of the beaver but he wasn't having it...

Closer look with zoom...

Went and got a lot of books from the library and, this evening, I've been looking through Hungry Girl's cookbook. Wow, she likes Laughing Cow cheese and tofu noodles a lot.

The Once-Over

At this point, this post is a week in review:

Patti and I changed our climbing schedule so that we could go to Ballpark Village's yoga series on Wednesday but guess what? Even though it's still a free event, tickets are required and it was sold out. I was bummed out but still had Zumba as an option.

Went to Gloria's on Thursday and we had a simple dinner of soy protein burgers from Aldi's but the toppings, caramelized onions...tomatoes...lettuce and condiments...took the simplicity to another level.

After dinner I attempted to make the whipped cream from one of the Thug Kitchen cookbooks but it was a bust. Supposedly, you take the cream from coconut milk, mix it with powdered sugar and vanilla flavoring but there wasn't enough creamed milk. There are other recipes with options and solutions but whatever -- it was an experiment...

Alison and I hit the Riverfront Trail for the first time yesterday. The ride out wasn't bad but we got pummeled by the wind on the way back and we dreamed of a sag wagon.

Alison caught me mid-selfie when we stopped to check out graffiti and, of course, I had to give my body the once-over or, more appropriately, scrutinize it when the picture landed in my message box.. I did think about that line in Sapphire's Push when Precious describes her mother and says that her arms look like animals; beavers, I think, but whatever. If I were to think in percentages, I'm about 89.9% satisfied with my body and enjoy when it's in motion and should be concentrating on the fact that my hands were able to hold onto handle bars and that my legs pumped for 16 miles...

Oh yeah, I was very congested after spending three hours (not all bicycling time) on the trail. Wonder what will be in store for this upcoming week?

Raymond, one of the riverfront turkeys....

Trail parking lot; car now covered in pollen.

Nth Degree

According to the Calm app, Wednesday was International Calm Day. Who designates these days?

At any rate, in honor of Calm Day, I had access to Calm Premium including a sleep story. I feel asleep on the sleep story so I guess it worked...

On Thursday I headed to Gloria's. She prepared everything since she was subbing for someone and wouldn't be home until around 7:30 p.m.

I'm thankful that Gloria has gone vegan and invited me over to witness the spectacle because I had really reached a point where I was stuck with cooking. If nothing else, I have new go-to recipes from the Thug Kitchen cookbook.

It's kind of like the woman at Zumba who told me that she doesn't go the bathroom closest to her at work -- makes perfect sense. Sometimes, you just need a reminder...

I don't go out of my way to eat celery but Gloria had it in our salad. For some reason, I thought that I didn't really care for celery but it was good -- especially with hummus on top. My taste buds have also matured and I didn't take that into account. Same thing with blackberries; remembered them as being too seedy but I didn't mind them on Thursday...

Alison and I have been totally out of synch of late. We were negotiating about which day to go biking and we really didn't reach an agreement. In the end, I woke up early then went back to sleep and when I thought about the mess in my trunk, I lost the desire to go biking so I went to  Zumba.

As I turned on the "Zumba Street" I saw this guy, who appeared to be homeless, giving drivers the middle finger salute. I laughed so hard. Just about everyone has been getting on my nerves lately. Oh, what I would give to salute a few... ;)

Later on Alison messaged me and asked me what I was doing. We decided to go biking so I guess everything does not need to be planned to the nth degree.

On our way out, a hawk landed nearby and several people stopped to watch him eat his snack. One bicyclist was not amused -- On your left, lady.

Hawk

I Am Not Those People

This woman...

I was torn between going bicycling with Alison or Patti on Sunday.

Patti has been inviting me to bicycle for a while and when someone asks me several times to do something, I think that they like my company or there might be another agenda. Patti also recently moved so maybe she wanted me to see her house. I said yes and met her for bicycling. Had the meeting point been closer, Alison would have gone.

I had to remind myself that it's good to mix-up things and do something different. I also got a glimpse of my past as I passed the exit that I used to take to go to hot yoga...

Patti offered me a helmet which I declined then she said that she didn't know what she would do if I had an accident and split my head open. I told her First, call an ambulance.

We set out and what I noticed about Patti and her other rider folks is that they don't do much pausing and I am definitely a stop-and-smell-the-roses-then-take-pictures-of-them-kind-of-rider. I should also say that Patti clips into her pedals so I'm sure that's one reason that she doesn't want to do a lot of stopping.

We did about 17.5 miles. When I'm in the car and notice mileage, I always give myself a little mental pat on the back for the miles that I rack up on bike  all the time knowing that there are people who put much more mileage on their bikes. But I am not those people. Therefore, back-patting.

I sighed, not pitifully, a few times and I had to dig deep to finish that bike ride. I think another factor was not knowing the trail and, therefore, not knowing landmarks so that I could gauge how close we were to finishing our ride.

Had a little post-ride lemonade kombucha with Patti then stopped by Aldi to pick up fruit then headed home to make chili. More back-patting.

On another note, I am about to throw in the towel as far as uncluttering goes. I'm feeling stuck and haven't really started. I remember reading something about not being afraid to ask for help. Think it's about that time.

A Good Story

Photo Credit: Alison

The weather has been stunning so it was only a matter of time before Alison and I decided to hit a bike trail. I agreed to bicycling yesterday but felt guilty when I told Alison that I didn't think that I'd be able to do yoga and bicycling. We've done that combo before but there's a lot of planning that goes into it and I also didn't think that I'd have the stamina or time budget.

It was my first bike outing since purchasing the Subaru and I made assumptions. At the last minute, I was looking for a way to secure the fifth door but there's nothing that you can hook a rope onto. Still, I tried to secure a telephone cord around the flimsy license plate housing as part of the bike was sticking out. As I strategized, I wanted to cancel but knew that it wouldn't be fair to Alison.

Headed out knowing that any serious bump in the road was going to snap the license plate cover and that's what happened.

I'd also bought a jump rope along so I pulled over to try to secure the fifth door and, minutes later, a fire truck pulled up. I thought that maybe I hadn't paid attention and parked in front of the fire station and, next, I saw a fireman walking towards me and I thought that he was going to reprimand me or give me a citation. Not once did it cross my mind that he might help me but that's exactly what he did.

The fireman was so calm and so cool. During "the class" that I took at Subaru, I was told how to pop out the house casing but I had forgotten. The fireman popped it out in two seconds and he also guessed that I had a quick release front wheel on my bike which I knew about but my apprehension about getting the wheel back on stopped me from even thinking about that as an option.

Even without taking the front wheel off, the fireman was able to maneuver the bike into the car which was such a relief. He made my day -- and a couple of more days. He was also pretty funny too. He likes to bicycle with his daughter but he doesn't think that he'll be able to get two bikes into his current car because it's not as big as the car that his daughter wrecked and, boy, does he miss his wrecked car.

I called Alison to let her know that I was running behind schedule. When we finally hit the trail, we were going at a nice pace and I think that it was total adrenaline.

Around the eight mile mark we took a closer look at Cementland. The area around the red, white and blue barrels is hilly and I tried not to think about the additional energy that I'd expended. However, I did feel grateful that my ankle is at a point that I can tackle hills and uneven terrain.

The bike ride back was windy and tough and even though I was knackered when I got home, I cooked but nixed the salt bath that I had planned to take. I didn't have the time since we spent three hours on the trail. Time well spent so I made adjustments to my agenda and moved on.

Outskirts of Cementland, Photo Credit: Alison

But the fireman, for real, I get emotional thinking about him. I was so moved by his act of kindness and it just made me resolve to continue my efforts to be steadfast in my kindness. The interaction with the fireman was also a lesson in staying calm and "feeling the fear and doing it anyway..."

P.S. I figured out how to take the wheel off which made getting the bike in the car so much easier. Not sure that it's on right but I'll take a look at it later.

Yes

Decided to take advantage of the weather and hit the riverfront trail. Don't think that I've ever bicycled in December and don't think that I've ever encountered so many trains while trying to access the road to the trail. Ended up hopping on the highway and going to where we usually end our ride and it made me have a whole new appreciation for the mileage that Alison, Connie and I have put in.

We all have fitness goals that we haven't hit but I'm proud of us for the times that we've bicycled on that trail -- 16 miles at a time or more.

Having to take another route was also a lesson in going with the flow and/or trying something new and not giving up because of an obstacle.

I got in nine miles and the ankle faired well except for the few times that I had to go over railroad tracks.

A brief digression... See the whole in my shoe? My Nikes are about a year old. They don't make them like they used to...

I'm about half way through Shonda Rhimes' Year of Yes.

Interesting that I arrived at this section today:

Losing yourself happens one no at a time. No to going out tonight...No to making a new friend. Losing yourself happens one pound at a time. 

The part that had me cracking up a page later is when Rhimes reveals that she parted from a personal trainer because he said "Nothing tastes as good as thin feels!"

Who says that to a fat woman?

Holding On

Connie As Alison & I Checked Out Totems

It's been a tense month at work then I rushed around playing squeezing specialist --trying to fit many things into my day on Friday. After returning from lunch, knew that I had locked my keys in the car as soon as the door sealed. Worst possible timing in that people with spare keys are in another state. Luckily, my roadside assistance covers locking one's key in the car. Wasn't sure that the insurance did. Otherwise, I would have had to call a locksmith.

On Fridays, I face a small dilemma. I want to practice yoga but I also feel wrecked. Despite feeling depleted and like I couldn't move any further, I went and it was worth it just to hear Erin say Cut the cords that have been hanging onto you all week. Hallelujah and thanks for the cue...

Went bicycling with Alison and Connie. When I arrived at the parking lot, there were only two cars so I turned on my cell phone in case Alison needed to reach me and I started reading Mental Floss when I heard someone approach my car. It was Alison. Connie had driven and told Alison that she didn't think that I knew they were there. I most certainly did not know. Kind of funny.

We had gorgeous weather for bicycling which had me singing Lovely Day throughout the bike ride and I'm going to hold onto that and not dwell on the fact that I checked very few things off of the to-do list.

One of Artica's Totems

The Art of Unwinding Twice

Treated myself to a month of unlimited yoga and one thing about treating yourself to an unlimited pass is that you show up on the mat more often, duh, unless you practice yoga for drunks. At any rate, had my eye on going to restorative yoga on Friday after work but started waffling about whether or not I should.

Believe it or not, it's an effort to make it to yoga on Friday evening but I pulled myself together and headed in the direction of the studio and caught just about every red light. Traffic was impressive too. I had to tell myself to slow down -- that racing through the city was not very appropriate for someone heading to practice yoga...

Made it to the studio with five minutes to spare and was a little puzzled when I didn't feel the presence of others. Turns out that the only person in the studio was the teacher. It's kind of exciting to have a private yoga lesson but also nerve-racking for someone like me who does not like attention. Felt like I had to unwind twice but it ended up being a lovely class and then I headed out -- late for my rendezvous with the 'Fugee and the other 'Fugee...

Made a bicycling date with Alison and Connie even though we knew that it had been breezy for two days and Saturday's forecast was also for breeziness. Monitored my iPod to make sure no one had canceled and started putting on layers. Also dug out my fingerless gloves then headed to the riverfront.

Wow, it was chilly which we all could have dealt with but the breeze was formidable. I'm so proud of us for getting our bike ride in and thankful that the staff at the visitor's center had fires going...

Finished reading Gretchen Rubin's Happier At Home and Rubin has definitely found her niche. The Happiness Project resonated with me more but I liked this book too. One of the things that I like about Rubin is that she's fond of quoting and my favorite quote in this book is one by Elias Canetti:

"One lives in the naive notion that later there will be more room than in the entire past." (250)