I went for a long bike ride today in Minneapolis. I did 35 miles in two hours fifteen minutes. Give or take. I forgot to reset my clock and odometer, but if memory serves, my last ride was about 12 miles in 48 minutes or so.
This was probably the longest bike ride I’ve ever taken in my life. I went south along the river from my house, across the river at Minnehaha park, past all the lakes in south Minneapolis, skirted downtown, went through the U of M east campus, through the St. Paul campus, and back home.
And it was windy the whole time. Sometimes it helped, but toward the end, I swear it was a headwind no matter which direction I was going.
And I got hit in the face by two windborne things: a large bug and a bunch of leaves.
Now I’m sitting at home listening to branches fall out of the trees and hit the house. I’m reminded of a recent conversation I had about home ownership. I made the point that owning a home is an act of defiance against nature. Sometimes you win and sometimes you don’t, but it’s really an act of purest optimism. Some might say hubris, but that’s a bit negative and ruins my point. I like to stick with optimistic and fundamentally human.
The point is that I’m proud to defy nature. I’m happy that I own a house despite the potential for branches falling and chipmunks invading the garage to get bird seed and water getting into the basement (though I fixed that problem; defiance again). I respect what nature can do, but I can’t deny that I have a bit of a smug smile as I look out at the wind (and now rain) while staying warm and dry.
Follow
Link
Subscribe