The End of Autumn

Yesterday there was, wait for it, a ride to the lake.  Actually, it was the last road riding of the year.  I'm feeling somewhat desolate.  The new bikes were one of the best things we've bought.  We can't ride the road bikes anymore because the dropped handle bars kill our hands and shoulders.  The mountain bikes have a comfortable riding position, but between their significant weight and the very knobby tires, it took forever to get anywhere.  The hybrid bikes are not light weights by any stretch of the imagination, but they're faster than the mountain bikes, very stable and they corner surprisingly well.  They're also comfortable.  So that was a bunch of words to say that biking was fun again, and now I miss it.

Some work has been done at the recreation area. They put a row of these red flags in the ground.

The geese are still hanging out.  They continue to have animosity at each other.  There's a fair amount of charging and making that weird goose sound that they do.  Attempts to get a video so you could see and hear all failed.

There has been a little fall color.  It was better last year.  Last year was hotter than this past summer, so I'm not sure what the deal is with the foliage.  The birds are cormorants sitting in the sun.

Yesterday was a 12:45 pm start with 62F.  There was some smoke obscuring the sun.  We wore tee shirts under the jersey, black light weight arm warmers, and vests.  All clothing stayed on for the entire ride.  It was surprisingly chilly with the cold air mass we had.

There was excitement in the neighborhood yesterday, the neighbors took out two giant trees.  They were supposed to be dwarf trees, but they were not.  Due to their size, they kept the drive way in the shade the better part of the day, so the ice and snow did not melt.  There were falls due to the ice, so the trees had to go.  The first tree is being taken to the chipper shredder, the second tree is about to be felled.

Starting tomorrow, it's raining everyday until November 3.  There is a large storm bearing down on us from the Gulf of Alaska.  The ridge of high pressure is breaking down, so it will become cold, windy and wet.  Sigh......

I made stoup today. Instead of the usual cumin, curry, and pumpkin pie spice mixture, I used these.  There was also a can of drained diced tomatoes, and house made stock made from mushroom stems, celery leaves, and some beet leaves.  I kept the liquid to 14 ounces, but it's still too much.  The stoup is good.  It's different enough that it doesn't taste like something we've eaten a million times before.

If I don't write it down, I don't remember.

There is a lot of depressing stuff in the world right now, but I think I will just leave it there.