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Day’?s Verse:
Looking about at those who were sitting around Him, He said, “Behold, My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of God, he is My brother and sister and mother.”
Mark 3:34-35
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This post will be bits and pieces of whatever I think of. First, a somewhat funny vignette from my workplace:

Coworker X came over to give me a CD. X had iPod earbuds in; X also noticed I was munching trail mix.
X: DID YOU MAKE YOUR OWN SNACK MIX?
Me: [looking at a paper] It’s trail mix.
X: DID YOU MAKE YOUR OWN SNACK MIX?
Me: YEP.
X: [Nods]
[Pause]
Me: YOU SHOULD TAKE AN EARBUD OUT WHEN YOU’RE TALKING. [makes motion of taking something out of my ear]
X [irritated]: I CAN HEAR YOU JUST FINE!

…which was why X spoke with an excessively raised voice the whole time. Right.

Second: Ian and I had a very nice day yesterday. I started my day off with a 50-mile ride to Bedford via Concord after waking up at 5:00 for no reason. I seem to have a slight cold or something, because I just don’?t feel as perky as usual, and when I woke up I had a vaguely sore throat and a headache.

Even so, remembering my old cross-country coach’?s advice (“If it’?s in your head, go for it; if it’?s in your stomach, don’?t even think about it”), I decided to at least give my planned ride a stab. Once I got going I didn’?t really feel sick, but I did just feel plain tired, so it wasn’?t my zippiest ride ever. Also about mile 35 or 40 my knees started hurting, which was really a bummer. When I got home I diligently iced them until they were freezing cold, and the pain has stayed away since then. I’?m tentatively going to go for a 40-mile ride today, but I’?ll make sure to take Ibuprofen before I leave and on the ride I’?ll take it as easy as I can. If I can’?t ride two long days in a row, next weekend’?s MS ride is certainly going to be difficult. I think my knees started hurting because several faster riders passed me yesterday, and I wanted to try to keep up. That was probably a mistake.

Anyway, I got home, iced my knees, took a shower, and spent a while napping and reading. Finally about 3:00 my conscience urged me to take a look at Charlotte (my winter bike, as you may recall). Since March, Charlotte has sat on the porch gathering pollen. When I retired her for the season, I didn’?t even give Charlotte a good wipe-down, let alone a thorough cleaning a lady like her deserves. Yesterday I pulled her off the porch, schlepped her downstairs, and cleaned her up.

Details on the cleaning and Charlotte’s condition.The job turned out much more massive than I originally anticipated. I originally intended to just wipe her down, do a quick chain degrease and re-lube, and put air in the tires. I ended up removing the hideously filthy and soaking it in a degreaser bath for over an hour. I also ended up with a huge bucket full of soapy water, a toilet-bowl scrubber, and lots of greasy splatters all over the place. Despite my best efforts, Charlotte’?s cassette remained rather dirty, although you can now you can see a small bit of shine around the (extremely worn-down) teeth. The chain, once I degreased it, turned out to have no small amount of rust — not surprising, since I used it through a very rough winter — but no rust in important parts. I did grease the chain liberally and wipe it down frequently all winter, so the chain came through better than I thought. The chainrings have some rust, not a problem, but they also have worn to the point of requiring replacement. The rest of Charlotte came through just fine: Her aluminum body has small spots of rusting here and there, but by and large she cleaned up quite nicely. This cleaning and inspection has made me think that I should spring for her major overhaul at some point here; Landry’?s gives me 10% off parts, which helps, but it’?ll still be expensive. In addition to cassette, chain, and chainring, she’?ll also probably need all new cables and brake pads, and goodness knows what other small-but-expensive problems the bike shop will find. Still, I’?ll get her back into good condition so she’?s a real viable second bike. Right now she’?s a “I’?m desperate” bike only.

Cleaning up Charlotte took a couple hours, after which Ian and I went to the grist mill a few miles down the road for a picnic. Yesterday evening was about 75, with big puffy clouds and a nice breeze. We set up in a shady spot at a bend in the stream with a good view of the mill. The creek forks right where we sat, its natural course joining with the manmade course from the mill, and it flows quickly enough to remain clear and provide a pleasant liquid music in the background. A little ways down the road, a wedding was taking place at a small chapel, and throughout our stay we also heard snatches of bagpipe music.

During our two-hour tenure there, we watched no fewer than four different wedding parties come to the spot for wedding photos. It was beautiful: Picturesque stone clads the mill, and since it wasn’?t running today, had a big waterfall flowed down one side and into its creek. Trees surround the mill and its clearing, casting dappled shadows onto the grass, the wooden bridge across the creek, and the mill and waterfall. In short, it was an almost perfectly idyllic setting, which we enjoyed fully. Sadly, I forgot my camera, so I point you to the woefully inadequate pictures on Flickr to get an idea of the setting.

On the way home we picked up the new Pride and Prejudice. We liked it very much: Both the acting and the filming were quite well done. The cast fit their roles beautifully. This version somewhat emphasized awkward and funny moments, but it was also filmed in an almost artistic way that added something intangible but essential to the movie. It felt like more than just another Pride and Prejudice remake; it felt like a new story, and that is quite an accomplishment. Ian and I both enjoyed it immensely.

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Please help me raise money for the MS Bike Tour Cape Cod Getaway. Donate today on my MS Participant page.
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