Ok, this isn’t what I saw while riding my bike around *today* but I finally have a minute to write about it. I went to Miami last week to watch women’s basketball and visit some natural parks. I have no desire to spend money in a state like Florida, but I have every desire to spend money supporting women’s basketball, and I also really needed a vacation after canceling everything good last year. Thanks a lot, cancer! No clean living in capitalism, so I headed down there by myself, sunscreen and sneakers in tow.

And oh, I had such a wonderful time. I fed so many parts of myself. I went to Biscayne Bay National Park and learned about coral reefs, mangroves, and how many different histories overlap in a single place, as always. I took the bus to Miami Beach and South Beach to hobnob with rich people and the people who are meant to stay invisible while making sure the rich people don’t have to know that it takes labor to get that effortless lifestyle–and I got to learn a new bus system. I also learned, again, that yes, I like my black beans Cuban-d.

I drove through the Everglades and took a boat ride and fell even more in love with mangroves. The water was the color it was because the mangrove roots are like tea bags in there. And I saw so, so many fantastic birds. I learned about the devastation caused by the ball python. They eat so many other species, and once they are rooted in an environment, they aren’t going anywhere. They don’t attack humans, but they attack landscapes. Change is constant, but can we stop this change? How do we decide which changes are good, and which are not so good?

Oh, and there was basketball. I love watching women play basketball. I have spent so much time watching women’s basketball while recovering from various surgeries that I swear these players are my friends. I loved being there. And on my last night, I got to tell Wanda Sykes–WANDA SYKES!–how much her openness about her own experience of breast cancer has helped me and so many others. I cried. She hugged me. Told me to keep going, and I promised that yes, I’m keeping going, absolutely. And then I got a picture with one of my favorite players, Brittney Sykes, no relation. It felt like a dream.

I also got to take a bike ride! I booked a 3.5 hour tour with some guy named Rydel who was selling his services via AirBnB. I could have rented a bike and just taken a ride, but I was happy for this guy to lend me a bike and take me around. We started from a parking lot and then rode for 17 miles around Key Biscayne. And I could do it! It felt so good to be out on a bike seeing things I hadn’t seen before, like a crocodile and a sandhill crane. Such a gift!

I snapped this photo of our bikes where we took a break to talk about stilt houses and Bill Baggs and the difference it makes to have a park instead of more mansions. I couldn’t believe all I was seeing with my very own eyeballs. I really am the luckiest duck.

And then I left my bike, waited in traffic, enjoyed that last night of basketball, and headed back to Baltimore, oh so happy to be back home. We’ve got blue skies here, too, and I love them so much. I’m glad I found my place and that I can still ride my bike around and love it so very much.