The last thing I felt like doing after a long day of work was riding a bicycle, to be honest, but I had a meeting in Mount Vernon, and it is against my religion to drive a car to that neighborhood–it’s less than two miles away and parking a car there has made me cry more than once, the price I pay for being a sensitive bird when it comes to driving. I swapped out my teaching skirt for my biking skirt, changed my shoes, and felt better the second my wheels started turning. A quick glide down the hill and up again for a quick meeting and I was quickly back on the bike, riding home in the gloaming. I know, dramatic word for 6:30 on a Monday in Baltimore, but the hints of sundown are so pretty, and they feel better from the seat of a bicycle. I snapped this picture as I made my left on Charles because look at that urban layering, the old and new buildings marking time and reminding us that people have been here before, building stuff and hoping people would come. I took a long way home, grateful for the reminder that taking the bike out, even if for just a minute, is always a good idea.