After a couple days with too much work and too much wind for a bike ride, S. finally got me back on the bike as we rode up to Druid Hill Park where she ran and I rode in circles. The sky was blue and white clouds and gray drips, because half the city was raining, but it stayed dry as I pedaled around and around, keeping my mouth closed so I didn’t eat the pink petals blowing around like snow. Continue reading
Month: April 2012
Trees and Blue Skies at Little Bennett Regional Park
I spent my weekend with S. and her family in Damascus, Maryland, which meant no bicycling for me (though when the folding bicycle gets here, that won’t happen again). On the plus side, I got to go on a couple of lovely walks, one along a paved path where I saw a gajillion deer, and today’s at Little Bennett Regional Park. The sign said bikes were invited, and I thought about how maybe I should have a mountain bike, but then I reminded myself that sometimes it’s good to take a walk, and you can see entirely different things on a walk that you can see from a bike, so perhaps it’s best that sometimes my feet are on the ground. Continue reading
Pink Carnation Flower Tree at Druid Hill Park
I had a busy last few days of the week and didn’t get a ride in, and I am going out of town for the weekend, so this morning I decided I best get in a quick pedal in order to preserve my sanity. I put on some bike shorts and a jacket made especially for bicycling, marvelled at how much faster that outfit made me feel, and headed up the hill and over to Druid Hill Park. I did a number of laps and thought about what you get to see if you do the same ride over and over again. I watched the leaves on these trees turn brown and fall, waited as they stayed all twiggy, watched them turn green with buds, and then burst out in two rounds of flowers. Now they.are this, puffy pink popcorn balls, row after row. On the other side of the round is a row of blighted buildings that have been crumbling, and today I noticed the one on the end~the roof has fallen in. I have a feeling I’ll be watching the trees change and buildings fall and maybe get built for a long, long time. I did my last lap and zipped down the hill to home. Yep, when in doubt, take the bike out.
Birds on an Island in Druid Hill Reservoir
Today’s ride took me up the hill to Hampden to the coffee shoppe for some afternoon writing. I was pretty tired from a marathon day yesterday and some ill-advised late night TV viewing and it all made the uphill-in-the-wind feel unnecessarily hard. I got myself in an easy gear and let myself spin along until I got to the top. It was downhill on the way home, so I just let myself fly in the sunshine over to the park to do some laps. Continue reading
Maryland Families Rest at the Heart of the State’s History at the Maryland Historical Society in Mt. Vernon
Today’s bike ride took me up the hill through Hampden and then over to Roland Park to meet V. for lunch and some reading and writing. Roland Park is so fancypants, what with its Greek-columned mansions hidden behind personal forests and Tuxedo pharmacies and complicated cul de sacs that are hard to figure out unless you live there. It’s like an entirely different city, that place. Continue reading
Tree and Empty Lot at Aisquith & Autumnleaves Ct.
Today’s bike ride took me down the hill toward Baltimore’s impressive and frightening carceral complex for the Youth Justice Sunday event. I was a little late and missed the march, so I pedaled around, trying to find the crowd. I heard the police helicopter flying over head and tried to follow it, figuring the cops would be on the case, as they have been at every single march or rally I’ve been to in this city. Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 