Abundant life

There has been a major change at work (from my perspective [edit: and that of a few other people]), and these past weeks have been occupied with preparing for and adjusting to the change.

Yesterday afternoon, shortly before leaving for home, I was "instant messaging" with a former colleague, and he invited me to his family's Sabbath dinner. I was on my bike, so I quickly plotted out a route to his house. It was a pleasant 45 minute ride.

I hadn't seen his family in some time, so it was great to catch up with everyone again. My colleague prepared most of the meal: tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar; mesclun salad with feta cheese, pistachios and vinaigrette dressing; another salad of garbanzo beans, yellow and green bell peppers, and fennel; broiled steelhead; pan-fried potatoes; asparagus; two flavours of Fosselman's ice cream; and two bottles of delicious white wine. A truly spectacular meal.

As always, the conversation was animated and often about the deeper things of life, including how much we have and yet how we are often so fearful and thus miss out on what life is offering us. We discussed the change at work and how we (I) can respond to it without giving in to a deep sadness.

It was after 11:00 when my colleague loaded my bike into the back of their van and took me home.

An evening that was one of life's abundant gifts.

Sisterly weekend

I had a great time while my sister was visiting this past weekend! She arrived Thursday evening, pretty tired from her travels, so we had a simple supper of duck egg frittata with chard and brown rice and a salad. (The frittata idea came from Liz's post on the Eat Local Challenge site.)

Friday morning, after sleeping in, we had French toast made from Trader Joe's thick-sliced cinnamon swirl bread and duck eggs. Then we took some measurements in the backyard and went off to San Gabriel Nursery, the results of which may be read on the garden site.

We were hoping to have tea at Rose Tree Cottage if a reservation cancelled, but when we called back, the power had gone out, so they were anticipating perhaps not being able to hold tea at all.

So, on we went to Aardvarks to browse through the racks of clothing. Then we had great success at a consignment and designer sample store.

We had a tasty dinner of burritos and taquitos at Burrito Express before going to hear David Korten present his new book, The Great Turning, at All Saints Church. It was quite challenging.

Saturday, after a hearty breakfast of hot cereal, we went to the Farmer's Market and enjoyed browsing and buying a few items. Then we came home and got ready to go hiking.

We made it all the way to Brown Canyon Dam (although we didn't go swimming). It was a warm but beautiful day to hike. The route is fairly shaded, and the breezes also kept it cool. We encountered two Forest Service employees patrolling on their horses.

I had never hiked to the dam as the guide, so I was pleased I was able to follow the route along creek quite easily. Where the trail isn't as clear, the creek determines where to cross.

About four hours later we were back at home with a little time to relax and clean up before heading out to meet the goats! (See the May 11 - 16 entries and pictures.) What fun!

Then on to meet friends for dinner at a Peruvian restaurant and for Shakespeare's The Tempest at A Noise Within in Glendale. We had to run from the restaurant to make it to the play in time. The play was well acted with some wonderful costumes.

Sunday was church. Happily, my sister had agreed to sing. She sang some Gregorian chants for the prelude (in both the English and Spanish services), and a beautiful offertory solo in the English service, "Mothering God, You Gave Me Birth," based on a text by Julian of Norwich (scroll down to view the words).

After coffee and greeting people, we came home to pack and leave for the airport after taking a self-portrait in the backyard.


Click to enlarge

Chic cycling

One of the Editors' Picks in today's WSJ is "The Cycling Commute Gets Chic" by Kevin Helliker (paid subscription required). The article focuses on what cities are doing to encourage bicycle commuters.

I was interested in this analysis of the "trend":

In a trend reminiscent of previous public-health fashions, affluent professionals seem to be leading the charge of commuters on bikes, just as they were among the first groups to embrace organic food, to stop smoking and to return to feeding babies healthier breast milk rather than formula. "So far, it's a white-collar movement," says Dave Growacz, a Chicago biking official and author of the book "The Urban Bikers' Tricks & Tips."

On my commute, which is not to a major urban center, I see more "blue-collar" riders, for example, construction workers or food service employees. Also, I see quite a few older folk who ride bikes to get around town and do their shopping or other errands, perhaps because of the large Asian immigrant population in the area.

Stalling

There's nothing like the prospect of housework to drive one back to writing on one's Web site!

My sister is coming tomorrow, about which I'm very excited, and thus I am in the midst of trying to get my house presentable. This is a major task. But the vacuuming is done and the dishes were washed a few days ago. Now I need to get the bedroom somewhat cleared up. The piles will probably stay on the desk, but they have to be moved off the bed! I need to finish putting a few things away in the living room, too.

The other big news is that I got my hair cut, drastically. I had been thinking for a while about donating it to an organization that makes wigs for cancer patients, and finally just did it on Saturday.

The organization the Cancer Society recommended is called Wigs for Kids. They ask for a minimum of twelve inches in length, which is why I had to go so short.

Here's the new look.


The freckles are evidence of riding my bike in the late afternoon sun on the ride home from work.

Conversation

I dipped into The New York Review of Books again, this time to read "Talking It Up" by Russell Baker, a review of Conversation: A History of a Declining Art by Stephen Miller.

I am more interested in the topic than the review itself. Baker makes some statements that I find annoying. For example,

Miller is pessimistic about the future of the conversational art in America and finds few witnesses who are not. The common explanation at the moment is the "polarized" state of our politics, which is said to be so advanced that sensible folk scarcely dare speak on any subject more arresting than food and weather for fear of igniting some human powder keg in a conversation-ending spew of rage.

I think "food and weather" can be "arresting" subjects. Baker is also dismissive of "blogs."

Miller and Baker blame the multitude and variety of electronic devices as one of the causes leading to the decline of the art of conversation. Baker goes on to point out that it requires wealth to obtain electronic devices and that, perhaps, having less money can leave one richer in conversation. After describing his memory of listening to grown-ups talking into the night during the Depression years, Baker writes,

[t]he conversation of course was affordable. It was free. Nowadays we are so rich in expensive ways to pass an evening that it may take considerable ingenuity and resolution to find anyone in the house willing to turn off the elctronic [sic] gimcracks and talk about Woodrow Wilson, or the ablative absolute, or how to dispose ethically of a broken laserjet printer.

Another part of the review laments the

decline of the love for language and phrasemaking, which used to be as common among the plain people of America as among English majors. People incapable of taking pleasure in expressing themselves are not likely to be much good at conversation.

This brought to mind my former housemate, whose memorial service I attended last week. One of my memories of her, and something that was expressed in the eulogies, was Nancy's beautiful diction and love of a well-turned phrase. It was pointed out that Nancy never used her quick wit at another's expense. However, Baker does give some examples of "brilliant insults" from the days when politicians were more articulate than they are today.

Riding again

I rode my bike to work again today. I ventured onto busier streets both coming and going in order to save time, distance, and uphill stretches. It worked out quite well—I cut off at least 10 minutes on the way home.

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The event that gave me the push to figure out how to ride my bike more was watching pictures of the mass exit of people in cars jammed on the freeway leaving Houston last fall as Hurricane Rita approached. All I could think was, "We are prisoners in our own cars, and we've locked ourselves in them."

I started riding places I needed to go on the weekends and then, finally, made the first commute to work.

One of the Web sites I had read some time ago that gave me the idea that I could commute by bike was Riin's Rants bike page. I re-read her page and the sites she linked to, especially about how to ride in traffic on a bicycle.

Now I also read Carfree Family by Paul Cooley and the sites to which he links.

Here are a few links to posts I particularly enjoyed this evening:

"Bending the Rules" by Jim at Oil is for sissies. I tend to follow the road rules pretty closely, but I am seeing the advantage of not always coming to a complete stop when the road is clear. So far I've only gone through red lights when the signal doesn't register that I'm there, for example, when I need to make a left turn on a left arrow.

"Commuter Bike Considerations" by Kent Peterson at Kent's Bike Blog. This is a transcript of a talk he gave. It reinforced for me that not all (real) bikers need to be flashy road racers or mountain bikers. I, too, am a fan of my handlebar-mounted rear view mirror. It makes riding in traffic much less stressful. I also read somewhere that drivers are more respectful of bicyclists who have a visible rear view mirror (an argument for having it on your handlebar).

I was also very interested in the pictures at the end of a report Kent wrote of a recent ride. I need to mount my rear flasher and reflector differently so that they are more visible. I'm also curious about what riding in Washington might be like (all that rain...).

"A Cycler's Day Off" by Joe of Cycler's Life. Joe writes about riding for two hours to get to a fishing spot.

When I first started riding to streams, I had the same two thoughts that everyone else does: Wouldn't it take a long time? Wouldn't I be too tired to fish? As with most things living carfree, we tend to think of things in the wrong terms. We worry about loss and are completely oblivious to gain. Pedaling to a stream is not just a slower, more tiring way to get there anymore than bicycle commuting is a just a slower, more tiring way to get to work. It is an entirely different experience.

What I notice on the bike is not that my speed is slow but that my time outside is long. The transitions from travel to stream become seamless in a way opening and shutting a car door can never be. Sitting on a padded seat in a sealed chamber, doing no work while moving 75 miles-per-hour, and then stepping out into quiet woods is jarring to say the least. It lacks something real, like watching television, and our minds only follow easily after acclimation.

(A very different context, but here's a link to a quote I copied out about how long church services can work in the same way to help us transition from a state of "fuss, rush, and care" to a place of inner quietness.)

I also enjoyed Joe's post about his wife, "Rachel," who now has her own bike blog.

There is plenty of inspiration and advice out there, and I'm grateful.

Earthquake country


In the Coachella Valley Preserve - Thousand Palms Oasis. Looking back at the Paul Wilhelm Grove shortly before arriving at the McCallen Grove and lake. Walking along the Mission Creek Fault, which is part of the San Andreas Fault system.