If I’m being totally honest, I didn’t really feel like going out for a bike ride. I felt like lazing about in my pajamas watching the Olympics, courtesy of this $15 antennae I picked up yesterday. I sighed myself up, put on my shoes, and headed out the door, promising myself that after an hour I could go back inside and watch other people do athletic things to my heart’s content. But first, the first two games of Serena’s match against Sharapova. Serena took some time getting set for the match, and the announcer proclaimed that Serena was “scared and nervous.” And then she ripped off 8 straight points, I smiled, and took off. I flew down the hill to the cafe for breakfast and to check out the James Baldwin Literary Society‘s art show. After a lazy morning there, I got back on the bike and headed downtown to check out the water. I passed a funeral in Little Italy, creepily presided over by the Sons of Confederate Veterans and their flags and drum and fife corps (we’re still doing that in Baltimore, it seems–ugh), took my  left and right, and then got off the bike to walk along the promenade. I stopped to snap this picture of a pier left to grow wild. It’s right next to the perfect rectangle of perfect grass that is the Bond Street Pier, but both are just as man-made. Oh, it was so pretty down there today, in spite of the industry and military on the other side of the harbor and the speed boats rocketing through the water. I finished my walk and then rode myself back up the hill, sunny skies and a tail wind. Yep, it is always a good idea to take a bike ride first.