Bicycles and Buffleheads

Susan is on retreat in Kohler, WI, celebrating 20+ years of friendship with Scottie, and I have been asked to tell you about our crazy bicycle ride in a hail storm.

(Ok -- it wasn't a hail storm.)

Last weekend, we were determined not to go to the gym. How determined? Well, temperatures had plummeted since the record-setting highs we enjoyed during Shelley and Natalie's visit, but when we awoke last Saturday morning we found ourselves basking in fabulous sunlight. Yes! In spite of seemingly unending forecasts of clouds and rain, we had sun! It was still only 30-some degrees, but we had sun! We could ride our bikes today instead of using the dreaded cardio machines at the gym.

So, we had our coffee. Ate breakfast. Read the paper. Put on our gear.

Um hmm. By the time we were ready, it was cloudy. But just cloudy. Neither of us fear rain, so off we went. We rode toward Tenney Park, excited to see that the Yahara River Parkway path, which will go all the way from Lake Monona to Lake Mendota with underpasses at major roads, has almost been completed. Amazing to think that we had not yet made it to Tenney Park, just on the other side of the isthmus from our home! (I'm telling you, it is amazing how much there is to do here!)


Of course, as we made our way out to the lock, it started to rain. As we proceeded out to the lake, and got excited about all of the water fowl near the shore (more buffleheads*!), it began to pour, and the wind was gusting, I dunno, maybe 30 or 40 mph.

Now, here's where I'm supposed tell you how we proceeded on our ride without hesitation. Except we didn't. I biked myself to shelter, Susan good enough to follow, though of course she had to take a few photos on the way. That's my girl!

So, out of the wind for a minute or two, a bit warmer, we shoved off, on our way, determined to get to State St. for shopping (gifts, yea!) and Chipotle (a shared guilty pleasure in this land of few chain stores).


Perhaps it was the promise of Chipotle that inspired us. But we rode back across the isthmus, short-cutted up Monona Terrace (again, a minute in the bicycle-friendly elevator to warm up...), out toward the capitol. Down the other side, toward State St. Still pouring, harder wind!

But yes! We made it. Bought our gifts. Ate our burritos in warmth, and rode back home, with a story to tell.

* bufflehead ducks are cool... they dive completely under water, and pop up several feet away!

Music and friends

We went to see one of our favorite artists, Jeffrey Foucault, at one of our favorite places, Cafe Carpe, this past week. We were especially excited because Hayward Williams, highly recommended by Peter Mulvey, was opening the show. Well... suffice it to say that this guy is really terrific, and we are looking forward to catching up on his work thusfar, and watching to see where he goes from here.

The photo was taken by a gentleman sitting beside me in the back row of this tiny venue; click the photo to follow a link to more of his snaps. That's Williams in the middle, with Foucault on the right and David Goodrich, guitarist extraordinaire, on the left. David was playing acoustic tonight due to airline foul-ups, but he sounded great to me.

Next up is Patty Griffin at the Barrymore in a couple of weeks. Her CD, Children Running Through, seems, at first listen, a return to form after a dissappointing follow-up to one of my very favorite albums, 1000 Kisses. And Kris Delmhorst will be in town in May, at Cafe Monmartre.

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Besides going out to see music, I continue to exhaust myself by working too much. In combination with Susan's classes and both of us trying to get to the gym regularly (and together whenever possible), we've been much too busy, but we're both making efforts to remedy that situation.

The gym, at least, continues to pay dividends; I've escaped the plateau I hit a few months ago and started losing weight again, to the point that I'm buying new clothes again... yea!

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Next weekend our friends Shelley and Natalie come to visit from Massachusetts! We are very excited to have them come see this new city of ours, which we love so much.

It's been a year since we bought the house here, and 11 months since we moved... if you haven't come to visit , will you think about it?

We'll come see you, too... for those of you in DC, we'll be there for a long weekend in April; if you have time to meet up with us, send me an email and I'll let you know where we'll be.