Alphabet

A February 2017 activity ;'-)

Years ago (decades now) when living back east, I took a photography class. In addition to dark room work we also had field assignments. One of those assignments was to take photos outdoors of things that looked like, or at least "represented" the letters of the alphabet. It could be anything "natural" or any structural thing, but no actual printed letter like on a sign or building or anywhere.

On one of my solo neighborhood bike rides this popped into my mind. Repeating a bike route many times, though with nice views and a pleasant bike ride, one can begin to experience a little ... boredom. Such was the case on a ride a few weeks ago so I decided I needed a "challenge" and this would be a good one.

With all the rain we have had this month (wettest February on record) I adjusted the rule to include any hikes or long walks I did. Once I told Susan to use her imaginative artful eye, even she was able to discern the letters I had taken a picture of, and she volunteered some on a couple of our walks.

I invite readers to use their imaginative artful eye as well. Some of these are a bit out of focus, so forgive that; some may be hard to determine a letter, but it is not as easy as one might suspect to find a "g" for example.

Without further word -- here they are (taken over a little more than a week):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Follow the skinny limb

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was a fun little project -- at least for me ;'-) as Susan got tired of my searching whenever we were on a walk together. But -- even with that thought, she helped me find a couple of letters.

 

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January 2017 -- Keeping up with my cyber (pen pal) friends

 

Hello my friends,

I am telling you about much (most) of what January held for me, and it will be in no actual chronological order. First let me say that December did not end the year 2016 too well for me. I think I complained to all of you and each of you enough, but let it be known that I was sick for way too long -- and like you Larry -- had that horrendous cough stay with me much longer!

I will try to do this report with some kind of order.

PATCHWORK: Let me start with this.

You know I do the coffeeneuring challenge (but with tea), and I earn a patch for each year I do it. I now have three of those and also purchased an "always coffeeneuring" patch that has no rules attached to it -- it simply assumes that one is always on the search for coffee, or in my case tea.

How to display these patches is a challenge for everyone. Hard, to sometimes impossible, to sew onto one's pannier, and if sewn on that could compromise the rain resistance by creating holes (even though small). I thought of gluing them on (one person on fb was trying hot glue) but learned that that would end up cracking (especially in our weather) and potentially ruining the patch and maybe the pannier. Same thing with double sided tape that I was considering. What to do other than stuff them in a drawer?

Fortunately I have a creative and talented friend in Bette-Ann. She did this ...

 

 

I had this map holder that she lined with upholstery fabric (because it doesn't ravel), put a piece of cardboard inside for a stiffener, and tacked each patch onto it. Tacking makes it possible to easily remove and add more patches as they come ;'-)

Here is how it looks on my rear bike trunk:

I am very pleased with my patch display and thankful for my friend Bette-Ann.

FROZEN FUN plus ONE MILE:

You will recall the photos I sent you showing our frozen tundra. It has been that kind of January and has kept all of us from doing much bike riding. Finally my friend Cindy and I decided to give it a try -- we were unsuccessful in recruiting any other of our friends who may have had more sound judgement than to ride in below 30 degree weather.

 

I had so many articles of clothing on, I felt like the boy in "The Christmas Story" who couldn't get up from his fall because of all the clothing he had on. Layers and layers above and below (plus those chemical hand and toe warmers) kept me warm enough to complete a nice little ride with Cindy. And she served us soup afterward. I tell ya, I have the BEST of friends!

 

That's ice covering the pond we meandered around to visit. Two days later I thought I would take a little ride around my neighborhood. HA!

ONE MILE!

I don't know if ever I have ridden just one mile!!

Here I took the time and all the effort to get bundled into all those layers of clothing, got on my bike and rode only around my block for one mile!! It was simply too cold -- or I was too cold. I don't know because Cindy and I rode in colder temps and we were fine. So this day it may have been a combination of things -- riding alone; not having the right mind set; no warm up days in between. Whatever - I was not having fun and felt frozen from the start so simply returned home. All I could think of was reading my book in my nice warm home!

There were some ice patches out there, but nothing I couldn't have avoided --- AS LONG AS I KNEW in advance that they were there and didn't come upon them around a turn or they were hidden in some corner or under some tree! My block did not seem dangerous, but I was surprised to see a few thick ice patches out there.

TEANEURRING:

I have not taken photos of each ride with a tea and crumpet stop (you know any pastry for me is a crumpet) but I did get a couple. I had a few rides to Top Pot Doughnuts with a couple of friends and totally enjoyed the goods.

 

And yesterday we had a fine stop at a cafe in a pharmacy! I liked that because I could add it to my "list" of strange places for places. Also on my list (of two now) is having had sandwiches from a deli in a liquor store.

 

 

"Stilly" is a colloquial shorthand for the Stillaquamish River which is the river that this town of Arlington is on.

This is a poor photo but I was trying to show that we are in a pharmacy having tea and crumpets.

End Part 1 ;'-)

SOME OTHER RIDES:

Unbelievably, given this ice laden month, I got in a few more rides mainly with friends.

Yard art always welcome.

Cows are few and far between so close to home anymore.

The old large tree trunk nurses new tree growth.

Our siting today. This regal eagle!

TWO PLAYS AND A MOVIE:

"Singing in the Rain" was well done at our local theatre -- with semi-professional acting group. Though I enjoyed it, it is indeed "dated" and I don't have to see it again. Well, maybe the real thing with Gene Kelly and Debbie Reynolds ;'-). The theatre extended the run of the play in memoriam of Debbie.

"Woodie Sez" was a very entertaining and well done play about Woody Guthrie -- his music, his drive for the underdog, his life story, and the Huntington's disease he died from. I very much enjoyed this one.

"Hidden Figures" is the movie that Pat and I saw this month. A rather moving story of three black women in Virginia in the 50s and early 60s working at NASA, knowing more than many whites who worked there, and the discrimination factors that existed. Good movie that I could see a second time.

SOME READING:

Not at all high brow, and no where near as educational nor classic as much of Larry's reading, but I did get three books read this month.

 

Story of Ingrid Bergman by Ingrid and Alan Burgess (from Mary @ Christmas) Lots of disconnect in her life -- interesting read.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (from Pat)
Retired school teacher in small town of Crosby Maine with many different characters and each have their own stories to tell.

Tara Road by Maeve Binchy (from Mary last Christmas). Kind of like a soap opera and rather enjoyable even though it does ramble on just like a soap opera.

THAT'S ALL FOLKS (for now):

This has gotten to be quite a long cyber report, but I love sharing it all with you. I save thoughts and take photos to share and it is helpful to me as well, to see all I have done. Though January is not quite over, I will add anything else I do this month into my February report (that's a short month and maybe a short report ;'-)). Maybe not.

One last photo -- two year old Kaitlyn found her way to see what was going on outside in her yard.

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2016 Coffeeneuring Challenge 7: Spotted Cow

• Spotted Cow, Mill Creek WA
• November 13 (could have been raining ;'-))
• Sencha Green Tea (Tea Forte)
• 25 miles
• Dragon socks

It had rained last night, and continued into the early morning. I checked our rain gauge -- the puddle at the end of our driveway -- at about 9:15 to see that there was no rain at the moment.

 

No Rain

I put on my dragon socks, packed my rain pants (just in case) and got in the saddle for a ride.

 

Dragon Socks

I left home at about 10:15 for the ride to Mill Creek. It was gray and cloudy and, after having been riding in 65-70 degree days this past week, the 48 degrees felt rather chilly for my first few pedal strokes. It didn't take long to warm up however, and I had a nice, cool, non-raining ride.

 

The ducks were feeding in a nearby pond along my route.

 

 

I arrived at Spotted Cow where there are no bike racks. I put my bike near the rear entrance, used my poor man's lock and chose a table near the window where I could keep an eye on it. I ordered my fare but was a bit disappointed. I had not been asked if I wanted it for "here" or "to go", so I assumed there was not a choice. After I got served and made my way to my table, I noticed that others had actual plates and cups with saucers.

 

Mine was served in paper cup and foil wrap. ;'-(

Seeing what looked like a fine assortment of teas, I happily chose Sencha which is my go to tea when I am not familiar with the brand.

 

I thought "Tea Forte" sounded great.

When I got my cup of tea it appeared to be whole leaf tea that they themselves put into little bags. Even better, I thought. But -- the tea ended up being weak (I left the bag in the cup through the end) and tasteless.

The pastry choices were not only limited, but by this time (11:30), there were even less choices. Since it was approaching lunch time for me, I chose a "savory" scone. It was "OK".

 

 

This is not a place I will have on my list of places to come back to as I was left unimpressed. Leaving Spotted Cow, I rode through the back parking lot to appreciate the last of fall colors.

 

Some of the colorful fall leaves continue to cling to their trees as a last gasp of fall hits.

 

I took a longer route home and rode through the county airport. This has become my route of choice when riding home from this area. It adds miles to the loop, but if I have time that is what I like. This time I got on the trail after leaving McCollum Park. But first I would make a stop.

 

I have stopped to see this in the past, and it is the only such memorial I know of.

I didn't take the time to read all the names here, but of those I did read, many were in their mid to late 20's. A sad memorial indeed.

Continuing on, the trail takes me up and over the busy highway.

 

As I approached the airport, and had less than half an hour to get home, there were just a few sparse raindrops that fell on me. I was at the ready with my rainpants, but never needed them as that (little bit of) rain was gone within no more than 15 minutes,

 

Museum of Flight plane on display on my route.

A fine morning of riding, and the finish of the 2016 challenge for me as I reach #7 for teaneuruing. Although -- I am now a patch carrying member of "Always Coffeeneuring" so there is no end to it!

 

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2016 Coffeeneuring Challenge 6: Elaine's

• #6 Elaine's house
• November 10 (warm and partly sunny)
• Kirkland Green Tea bag
• 32 miles
• Ya Gotta Have Heart socks

 

I am going to call this #6 in case the weather for this upcoming week does not allow for much teaneuring. We have had some extraordinarily warm and bike friendly days this past week or so. Today six of us had a fine ride from Elaine's house on a warm enough day to be in shorts and light jackets! Photo below is just before peeling off some layers of clothing. Bike parking was great in Elaine's garage with plenty of room for all bikes (including Dan and Elaine's several).

 

Brenda, our sixth rider, was taking the photo

 

We had some fine views of Mount Baker as we took a slow ride along the Riverfront Trail.

Elaine led us around and about a new housing development (that has been in the planning for decades) and into Everett on low traffic side streets and roads where we could glimpse some town activity and sights. We arrived at her home to the welcoming fall cooking smells of chicken noodle soup and fresh baked biscuits, reminding me of my mom's home way back. To top that, Elaine brought out her home baked (from a box this time) brownies and chocolate wine! Chocolate Wine!

 

Kirkland brand green tea is quite good and one of my favorite choices for bagged tea. Several of us had biked to Elaine's from our home. Having the most miles for my return home, I left this warm and wonderful group of friends a little early to beat any potential cold, wet or dark day!

My socks for the day:

 

Ya Gotta Have Heart

 

I need to add this comment from Cindy who sent an email reminding us of this incident. As cyclists we are always on the alert and defensive of car drivers, and we expect the worst when one is crawling up behind us: what will they shout at us? Will they throw something at us? What gesture will they throw our way? What curse words will come from the window? We were indivdually steeling ourselves for such a happening while this car was slowly creeping up behind us (we were extra slow due to the hill we were climbing). This is what took place:

"Just to share a fun moment with the others who didn't get to join us yesterday. As we were riding along, we had so many nice comments and shout outs from people along the trail and even a car driver who told us we were great and looked beautiful (I think Elaine heard that one)...and someone asked if we were a club or a family as we were riding along the river and Brenda replied "we are sisters"! Now, how is that for a cherry on the top! "

Our little group of cycling women friends is dubbed the "Swissies". A name given to us by Dan, Elaine's husband who called us the 'Secret Women Society' one day when we arrived at a group ride after our own time over breakfast before the ride. We morphed that title into Swissies, and now, after Brenda's introduction of us to that family as sisters ---- we are the Swissie Sisters. Rather cute I say.

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