Oh, thank goodness the deep freeze has lifted, at least for now. The past couple of weeks have seen lots of bicycling, mostly to and from work, but even a ride or two for no good reason on streets I don’t know like the back of my hand. Last week even featured a ride on streets that didn’t hold the snow amidst trees that did–and it was so beautiful. I remembered this ride I did with my dad years ago in his tiny town of McCall, Idaho. It was winter, snow everywhere–the real mountain kind–but we wanted to go for a ride together. It was straight uphill, and for this rider who’d mostly ridden in New Orleans it was a struggle. I put it in the easiest gear and just kept pedaling, huffing and puffing in the thinner air. One of us got a flat, he fixed it, and he went as slow as he could to keep pace with me. Such a perfect day. I wish we could have another of those.

Spring is in the air now, though I know nothing’s certain about that until May, really. Sunday’s ride was definitely anticipatory. It was still cold, but I dressed like it wasn’t as I zipped over to Hampden to pick up new glasses. I put them on and it was like I was seeing for the first time, like I wanted to staple my eyelids open so I could take it all in. I gave those eyes a treat with a walk around the neighborhood before hopping back on the bike for a turn around Druid Hill Park’s reservoir with all the other people who had the same idea. I snapped this picture of a scene that was much bluer through my fancy new lenses, finished my turn, and headed back to my neighborhood for a beer and some french fries, Sunday best. The new view and new feel of the air on my naked ears made me jubilant. What a treat to sneak a peek at that feeling again. Here’s to ramping up the bike riding, spring.