Agave

Agave, originally uploaded by ParsecTraveller.

Agave attenuata in the gardens of the Mission. This is one of the "safest" agaves to plant, as the leaves are much less rigid than those of other agaves...meaning the injury factor is reduced.

Embracing the Local Scene

My manager told a fellow manager last week that she and I were "embracing the local culture". She's right. We are both definitely working hard at embracing it vs rejecting it. I had just purchased a pair of cowboy boots within hours of her sharing that. And if that is not embracing the local scene, I don't know what is.



She is doing her own thing to find a way to do that and I'm doing my own thing to do the same. There are times when it can seem a bit slow to me, and I find myself literally amusing myself by doing things like tracking the progress of how quickly an animal decays in the hot summer heat. Then I take pictures of that progress to share with Nathan who does not get to outside and play during the day like I do. Warning: Gross picture below.




Pretty cool, huh? For the record, that was taken on Day Nine. Tropical storm Debby dumped all kinds of water in the area making a mess of things for many people and animals.


The river flooded due to Debby's gift and so we dealt with more flooding in the park. So much so, we "moved" from one site to another site to avoid being in the flood water.



Let's see, beyond all that fun I have had tree frogs jump on the top of my head twice in the past month. Once it took a lot of arm flailing and a funny dance to get it to leave the top of my head. That was pretty fun. It has been so boring for the most part here though that it has allowed me to be ridiculously lazy. I've enjoyed it. We are leaving to go on a cruise tomorrow and while I'm excited, I fear that after my recent daily pace, I will be exhausted two days in. I will have much more to share here when I get back though. Something more blog worthy than tree frogs that is.



Living the life in lazy Florida.

I Never Asked for a Honeymoon

When it comes to new bike ownership, cyclists will often talk about the so-called honeymoon phase. Symptoms include: lack of interest in looking at other bikes, thinking that everything about the new bike is "perfect," even finding its flaws endearing. It's more than about enjoying the bike. It's like being under its spell. Some describe this as the magic faerie dust effect.



In the past, I don't think that I've gone through honeymoon phases with my bikesexactly. I am by nature analytical and tend to see things from several perspectives at once. Even in the beginning, when I was extremely excited about my first beautiful new bike, I was all the while looking at it critically. Its purchase did not diminish my curiosity about other bikes in its category, but increased it. It was in fact through comparing other bikes to mine and noticing differences, that I became interested in bicycle design. The same can be said for all of my bicycle buying and selling since: There was excitement and enjoyment, but never really a rose coloured glasses type honeymoon period. It was more about experimenting and staying open to other possibilities. Considering my interest in bicycle reviews, design, framebuilding and such, I think this is a useful attitude to have.



So it has thrown me for a loop to realise that maybe, just maybe I am in a prolongued honeymoon phase with my Seven roadbike, which I've been riding since Spring of this year. The symptoms are there: Everything about it feels "perfect." The fact that it's welded and has a carbon fork somehow only accentuates its charm, even as I wax lyrical about lugs. And more disturbingly, I have lost interest in other bikes in its category. This last part is a problem! I would like, in theory to keep trying other roadbikes and comparing them, thereby learning more about the feel of different frame materials and different handling characteristics. But in practice, I don't really want to ride bikes other than my own just yet. If it's a different style of bike for different kinds of riding, I am as enthusiastic about experimenting as ever. But for roadcycling on pavement, I would rather be on my own bike. It's as if I haven't had enough of it yet, even after 2,000 miles. The decals are peeling, but the proverbial luster apparently remains. I hope to get over this soon. Until then, you are unlikely to see much in the way of roadbike test-rides here.



Have you gone through a honeymoon phase with any of your bikes? What has it been like, and what happens afterwards?

Debasketification

We've all been caught off guard here by the wintry temperatures over the past few days. I was in disbelief at first, but gave in and got out the wool coats and boots again.Yesterday the sky was dark and the forecast promised continuous rain, and so when we needed to go on errands across town we took the Pashleys - after making some minor modifications.



When I was explaining to the Co-Habitant months ago that the Princess feels slow to accelerate from a stop compared to my other bicycles, he immediately suggested that the basket might be at fault - producing wind resistance at slow speeds with its dense wicker enormity. I dismissed this idea for a while, because the basket is just so nice. I did not want to believe it could have any significant role in slowing me down.



But after the de-basketification procedure (we finally got some wrenches that allowed us to remove the handlebars and take off the entire basket support system), I have to admit that he was right. Without the basket, the Princess is faster to accelerate from a stop, and it is also easier to maneuver. I guess I am just not a "front basket kind of girl" despite liking them aesthetically. I miss the basket being there, but the handling and speed of the bicycle are so improved by its absence that I just can't see myself willingly re-attaching it. Instead, I will get some roomy panniers for the rear rack to increase load capacity.



In addition to the de-basketification, we changed the angle and rise of the handlebars some more, so that they resemble a vintage roadster set-up and allow for a more aggressive - yet still upright and comfortable - posture. This has further improved things, and I prefer the look as well - reminds me of a path racer!



With these changes and the effects they've had, I think I will keep the bicycle and continue tinkering with it. I would like to replace the Marathon Plus tires with cream Delta Cruisers, and I think this will make the Princess zippier still. This bicycle may not be super fast or light, but it is undeniably safer and more comfortable in bad weather than any other bike I have been on, and that is no small thing.



The Co-Habitant's Roadster is happy that the Princess will be staying, and he assures her that she looks just as good without the basket as with. If anything, her graceful long neck is now more visible and all the better to admire. What a flatterer!

'So My Husband Wants Me to Get a Bike...'

Since the start of the Spring season, I have been getting emails from women that read something like this:

My husband/boyfriend is a cyclist and he wants me to get a bike so that we can ride together. I am not very good at cycling, or sports in general. What bike do you recommend? My husband/boyfriend sent me a link to your blog and said that you would know.

Nice. Notice that the phrasing is not "I would like to get a bicycle so that I can accompany my husband/boyfriend on rides," but that the desire and intent are attributed entirely to him. This is something he has probably been convincing her to do for a while, and finally he sent her to my website, as if to say "See? Other women can do it!" (Great way to make her hate me, fellows!)




Of course if he does succeed in convincing her to buy a bike and join him, I can already see how that will go. He: the man dressed like a professional racer on a $2,500 road bike. She: the woman in ill-fitting bike shorts, cotton tank-top and sneakers, on a $600 hybrid. He: stern and professorial, explaining the importance of proper cadence and posture in a tireless monologue. She: red in the face and panting, sneaking longing glances at the families picnicking on the grass. Eventually it ends in bickering and tears - or worse, a fall. I see this on the local trails all the time. Please, don't be that couple.






If you are a cyclist and want to share your favourite pastime with your spouse, that's fantastic. But please understand that in order for someone to enjoy cycling as much as you do, the interest must come from within - and that you are essentially killing any chance of that happening by pushing too strongly or making the person's first cycling experience too difficult and stressful.




So what should you do instead? Well, for starters don't try to be your spouse's teacher or mentor. Unless she has absolutely never pedaled a bike before, there is no need to "instruct" her, as tempting as that may be. Even if you think she is "doing it wrong", leave it. She did not sign up for a bicycle course; she just wants to have fun with you out in nature. Give her that, and she will associate cycling with the nice time she had - and therefore will want to do it again.



Also, even if you have been cycling since age 5 and can compete in timed half-centuries in your sleep, consider downplaying your prowess and adapting a "leisure cycle" mode. Don't kit up. If you have an old beater bike, ride that when you are together instead of your super-fast roadbike. I would even go so far as to suggest buying an old vintage upright-ish bike for yourself, to match the level of the bike your spouse will be riding. This will even out the playing field between the two of you and will make you less intimidating.



In general, I think that getting your spouse to cycle is not about what she should do to keep up with you, but about what you should do to make her comfortable with her current level of skill. If it's going to work, that's the only way. Only if she enjoys cycling, will she become motivated to improve her skills, and perhaps will even start asking you for advice - giving you plenty of opportunity to play "coach" when the time comes for it. But that initial enjoyment is key, and it is up to you to set things up in a way to make it happen. Think about it from that perspective, start slow, let her figure things out for herself... And perhaps before you know it, your special lady might delight you by becoming a bona fide obsessed cyclist, entirely on her own accord. She may even start a blog.

National Key Deer Refuge

There are some endangered animals in the Keys, and the key deer are some of those animals. The key deer only live in the Keys in fact.



There is a refuge here for them. They also limit the speed that you can drive in an attempt to keep them safe. There are only around 800 of the deer. Around 100 were killed by cars last year. So what is so unique about these deer?



Their size! They are on average two to three feet tall when fully grown. They look just like the deer in Virginia, just smaller.



I think they are beautiful!





We drove around the island and enjoyed the sights and sounds beyond the deer.









And now we are hanging out. Austin is working on our yearly Gingerbread House. Every year he says he is not doing a gingerbread house because he is too old. And every year, he jumps in and wants to do the whole thing alone. He is quite the pro at it by now. You can also see our Christmas tree in this picture:



It is about the size of the key deer here! So cute!



Living the life in the Florida Keys!

Erupting Aurora over Devil Fish Lake

This was the first "good" shot that I made of the Aurora on July 15, . This moment occurred at just after midnight after we had already been watching the sky for about two hours. My friends were starting to think that maybe we weren't going to see a sky full of active lights that night, they thought that maybe a faint glow was all we were going to get. I told them to be patient, it's not even midnight yet. Sure enough, just after midnight the sky erupted with lights. Once you've seen how quickly the aurora can erupt and fill the sky, it's a vision that never leaves your mind. It is a phenomena that makes you feel both insignificant in the universe and grand all at the same time. On the one hand you feel incredibly tiny, realizing that the source of these lights came all the way from the sun. On the other hand, when the lights are this active they seem so low in the sky that you can almost touch them... in a way almost touching the sun itself. Any way you look at it or ponder it, it certainly is one of nature's most breathtaking sights!