Wednesday « Kenny Smith | A remarkable thing happens …

Wednesday

cycling / photo / Wednesday — Comments Off
16
Jul 25

Air dense as water

Today’s heat index finally quit at 103 degrees. At some point after that, with the daylight fading and things still as sticky as possible, I set out for a little bike ride.

And this is how you know it is hot and humid. Usually, because of the speed and the wind … let me rephrase … because of the “speed” and the wind you don’t feel a lot of sweat. For a person that can sweat a fair amount, this was a weird sensation to grow used to. I could be out on an extremely hot day and, aside from a bit of it getting into my eyes, I never seemed to sweat — at least until I got home.

About halfway through today’s short little ride, though, I noticed that every inch of my clothing and most of my skin was covered in perspiration. The dew point and the humidity were the same. There was nowhere for the moisture to go.

Not too long after that I ran across this sign. I was on one of the usual roads, and they’d been advertising this closing, so it was not a surprise.

Today might have been the first day of the closure, which was supposed to begin yesterday. And here I remembered one of the many virtues of the bike. I can go where a car can’t go.

The work has something to do with an overpass. In addition to the closure and detour signs, and the barrels, they’ve got barriers up on either side of the bridge. Presently, they are set up to allow a zig-zag access, presumably for the heavy equipment that should be arriving tomorrow or the next day. I suppose you can still get through there in a car, but you’d have to work at it. I didn’t have to slow down.

I might have sped up on the overpass, though. Who knows why they’ve got that bit of the road closed.

Anyway, it was a usual route, one that has the benefit of being well-defined, and quite in the evening. It’s easy to race the darkness on a route you know well.

Here’s a bit of it I don’t think I’ve photographed before. That’s probably not my fault, it’s the asphalt.

There was no wind for this ride. Not even a breeze. And it seems that I can still do an almost decent ride when I’m not battling the breeze. My computer was pleased. Pleased to be going fast for once.

That’s not fast, but respectable by my standards; I’ll take it. I’d take a little cooler weather, but I’m not going to get that in the near future.

photo / Wednesday — Comments Off
9
Jul 25

There are a bunch of names for skin cells

We had a hot dermatology date today. It’s every bit as exciting as it sounds. We drove over there from here, around some detours and arriving right on time, despite whatever it was I did that slowed us down on getting out of the house.

There was no one there, so as soon as sat down they called us back. The best part: no paperwork, so I guess we’re both enough in the system now.

These were routine checks. It probably took longer to book the appointments than to fulfill them. The doctor, yet another one in a now-growing line of people who are younger than I am. Younger than me and, yet, she looked more tired than the rest of us. You wonder how many times a day she does this, starting with the scalp and glanced in between the toes. You wonder if she’s sick of it yet, dismissing this worry, weathering a bad joke here, staring at an awkward blotch of skin there.

Well, not on us. We both saw the same doctor. She told my lovely bride that she has wonderful skin. To me she said, “You don’t have many moles.”

I’ve worked very hard to avoid that, yes.

Anyway, clean bills of health. Don’t lose any sleep over anything. Come back in a year.

Later, we got behind this truck.

It wasn’t that we followed him. He just kept turning onto all of the same roads we wanted.

adventures / photo / Switzerland / Wednesday — Comments Off
25
Jun 25

Once more, to the rails

We said goodbye to Ringgenberg, and our new friends Mark and David, two brothers who run the hotel where we stayed. Just delightful guys, they took a real liking to my in-laws, let them stay an extra day, and tried to charm their daughter at every turn.

Again, this was the view they gave us from our balcony.

(Click to embiggen.)

From the two of them we learned a lot about Switzerland, how the culture and the government and their sports work. So it became more than just the views. It became the sort of feeling that made you think: we’ll be back to this specific place sometime, soon.

Again, look at that view. Why wouldn’t you go back to a place like that if there were nice people there, too?

So we hopped on a series of trains — our last day with train changes, I think — and then headed two-and-a-half hours to the south, and into the mountains. It’s just basic views like this the whole way. No big deal.

And when you don’t see mountains, or small waterfalls, or the verdant nature of summer in Switzerland, you can see the rivers and streams and creeks that parallel the train tracks.

The closer you get to the snowmelt and the glaciers, the whiter the water gets, from all of the sediment and runoff. But no matter the shade you see in any given moment, it’s impressively, starkly beautiful.

Oh look, more mountains. So mountainous.

Which reminds me … we have seen several young people — on trains and at famous places — doing the things that people do these days. For days now the four of us have been saying “So preeeeeetty!” to one another after sharing a train car with five teenagers who were passing all of these beautiful sites and could not be bothered to see any of it because of all of the selfies they were taking. But their photos were “So preeeeeetty!”

Go ahead, I dare you, try to explain influencers to anyone that’s not chronically online. You sound like an insane person. And it looks ridiculous when you see it in practice. (To be fair, most things having to do with media look ridiculous in practice.)

Anyway, we have arrived at Zermatt. Here’s my lovely bride pointing out the chief attraction.

And here’s an artfully framed composition of that same mountain.

“So preeeeeetty!”

Also, I did that thing where you hold the camera lens up to the tourism telescope. So here’s a closer look.

And the view, no kidding, right outside of our hotel.

We are at Zermatt, and that’s the Matterhorn. The day after tomorrow, we’ll climb the thing. By which I mean we’ll take a train to an adjacent high spot and pretend like we’ve climbed the thing.

adventures / photo / Wednesday — Comments Off
18
Jun 25

Where am I? Who am I? What day is it?

OK. We’ve traveled, by plane. And we arrived at our hotel, where we will stay for two nights. And this is the first night or the second night, depending on where you are in the world. And I have no idea what is going on, so scrambled are my brains and biorhythms. That’s your next hint. So this is the Wednesday post, which could also be on Tuesday, depending on where you are. That’s a hint. And here’s the final hint, a quick shot from a hop-on/hop-off bus tour we took to see the area, and ward off jet lag. And, as it turns out, to get a little breeze on the skin. It is unexpectedly warm here, despite forecasts. Anyway, that last hint.

That photo hint probably is only a little help. If you stare it closely it might help you eliminate several possibilities, but probably won’t give you a precise location. I’ll offer you that tomorrow; if I’m awake for it.

books / photo / video / Wednesday — Comments Off
4
Jun 25

Mongo The Prequel, where the real money is made

This evening I inadvertently crossed another project off the To Do list. I was looking for an air purifier — we have two — and thought it might be in the coat closet.

Our coat closet is that sort with the horribly dated bifolding doors. (I wonder if I can put a bookcase door in there one day when I win the lottery …) It holds a lot of coats. Critically, it holds a lot of board games, too. And also a shoe caddy, an empty box and a picnic setup. Also space heater, a box fan, and three little containers of things like gloves and scarves. But there was no air purifier.

Oh sure, the new one was in the box in the laundry room, where I’d stored it. The other was … upstairs. So present and accounted for. And that closet got cleaned. And by cleaned I mean straightened up, and removed the empty box and box fan.

So the day was, in fact, productive. One closet to go. Maybe next week.

Also, I added 10 more pairs of cufflinks to the collection this evening.

I’m not sure how long it takes to make these in small batches. But it’s long enough to wonder how many more I should make. As I’ve mentioned here, I’m in a hot dog and bun situation as it pertains to the supplies — parts and material vs storage. Right now, I have a lot more storage than bits. So the solution, clearly, is to get more bits.

And, of course, french cuffs. It always comes down to that.

Mel Brooks wrote a book, and that’s not the name of it. It could have been the name of it. But they went another way for this light and breezy read.

The best title would have been Mel Brooks Needs An Editor. The beloved comedian and filmmaker, who is turning 99 later this month, tells us a few tales of his young life, how he got started with Sid Caesar and then diligently works through his better known move projects, organized by chapter. It wanders around, but you indulge it because there’s a lot of joy there, and it’s a beloved older man and there’s probably something good coming.

A lot of the magic of his work, I’ve decided here, is in the performance. The writing is a little more flat than he would delivery it. But that’s probably how I read.

I was telling a friend about this, who sent me this link, which is a joyful little watch. And I was glad for it. Because it’s basically chronological, this performance winds up near the end. But, just for now, look at the joy on the man’s face. It’s beautiful.

It’s a decent little beach read. (Just try to not think too hard about whether or not Brooks is largely the person to blame for our remix culture.) It moves fast, and you’ll work your way through it wondering if he’s going to mention that specific gag, bit or punchline that always sticks with you. If that’s what you’re after, this book is ready for you.