I woke up well rested this morning, a rather rare occurrence lately. I’m having this problem where I’m in such a lovely mood that I am trying to stay awake long enough to not miss it. Thing is, I need sleep, and I got a good lot of it last night, which meant I was pretty much immediately ready to hop out of bed and take a nice bike ride around town. I headed over to Druid Hill Park where the neighborhood was doing laps–walking, jogging, high-stepping, and bicycling. It was a bit crowded, so I took the left off the reservoir path and onto the Jones Falls Trail, under tree canopies and around the arboretum, dodging zoo traffic and disc golfers, and then I was headed down the hill to Woodberry. I snapped this picture at one of the switchbacks on this prettiest part of the trail. It was all green and blue skies and a rare whisper of a cloud, and it felt so good, so at home, to be rolling down to another neighborhood for brunch. I ended up eschewing the newer, fancier choice for an old favorite, but that meant a ride along Clipper Mill Road in all its lushness for a short climb back to Hampden. And then I took the bike back toward Waverly for a stop in a garden to peek in on a beehive before spinning home. It was a perfect sunny Saturday morning, made inestimably better by traveling by bike.
Woodberry
Public Places, Sacred Spaces Bench in Druid Hill Park Behind Clipper Park Road
Yesterday’s bike ride was long, made longer by an nighttime ride to and from Federal Hill for a fundraising party where it was all dancing, so today I woke up sore and tired, legs like lead. But it was Sunday morning, and it was Sunday Morning Hiking Club, so I had to stretch and get on out there. Today we walked through Druid Hill Park. I’ve biked all over that park dozens of times, but I’d actually never *walked* in it–makes it a totally different place. We started at this small section of the park behind the new apartments in Woodberry. The clearing is covered with leftovers from Baltimore’s city marble quarry (or something). And there was this bench–it has a little spot underneath to stow a book, including a little plastic cover to keep the pages safe in the rain. Apparently there are a number of benches like this in Baltimore parks, but it was new to me. Sometimes it’s better to walk. A few hours later and I was home, working, and then, I don’t know if you’ve heard but…the Ravens are going to the Super Bowl!
Sunset Behind Bare Trees in Druid Hill Park on the Jones Falls Trail
I had one of those perfectly lovely days, the kind where you wake up where you’re supposed to be and spend your morning doing things you’re supposed to be doing, and then there’s a meeting, but then you’re on your bike riding through the park on an unseasonably warm day. That part’s wrong, but like so very many wrong things, it feels so good. It was like springtime on my bare legs as I pedaled along, I swear. Continue reading
Fall Colors on the Jones Falls Trail Behind the Zoo in Druid Hill Park
I didn’t feel like going for a bike ride or going to the gym or doing much of anything but crawling in my bed with a book after a long day of staring at my computalator waiting for words. But come on, I could at least go for a short ride, just up to the park and back, you know you want to. I Continue reading
What I Saw Riding My Bike Around Today 