07
Oct 20
Oct 20
And just like that, the last color of the year fills the air
The least nature can do before turning to monochromatic grays and whites is to give us this. And you have to be perfectly fair here: this turn of color is impressive.
Saw that tree on the walk to the car after work. It was a quiet day on campus, a lot of them are just now, and it’s a shame that we aren’t able to have large outdoor activities because the backdrop would be … something:
Went for the Wednesday afternoon bike ride, and fell behind pretty quickly. Which gave me an empty road in front of me to shoot from the hip:
Not to long after this I had another flat. I was taking a turn and the back of the bike slid out from underneath me, which was the first sign. It was low. So I pumped it with my hand pump enough to get over the next hill, by which time the tube was flat again. I pumped it once more and when I got back on the tube said, and I quote, “You’re kidding, right?”
We were moving on toward dusk by then. And while I wasn’t far from the house, taking the time to put in another tube and limping home would have meant darkness, so I texted The Yankee to come pick me up, which she kindly did.
And now I’m throwing out that tire. I bought some more tonight, I’ll put an old one the back wheel until they arrive. Begging the question: what was wrong with that old tire, to keep it from being on my bike?
I took the offending Gatorskin — which has served me for a good long while, but has been a part of flat after flat after flat this year — out with the garbage tonight. I told it that no longer sparked joy, it was the weakest link. And I have a big stack of ruined inner tubes, and another truncated ride, to prove it.
06
Oct 20
Oct 20
Have some leaves, make your down payment today
To mark the changing seasons I’ve updated the front page of the site. Go check it out. Or just imagine it, based on this hint.
Those maple leaves are from our yard. And the grass is ours, too.
One day I’ll get around to digging under it to see if we happened on anything profitable with the mineral rights. Probably not. They don’t build houses over valuable resource reservers very often, I’d guess. Surely there were surveys once upon a time. And since no one ever found a gold nugget or enriched their britches with oil or natural gas or found some other valuable thing around here, they decided “Houses it is! Put out some nice sod and sidewalks and run some utilities out there and we’ll make money off it that way!”
Anyway, the leaves look grand, wouldn’t you agree?
This maple tree is turning in stages. It’s the arboreal version of a combover, maybe. The tree that’s kidding itself, and not fooling anyone else. How could that tree fool anyone with that bright bit of vibrance. There is, as they say on the ‘gram, no filter here.
Now if everything looked and felt like this for the next five months.
Oh, I forgot to add this show yesterday. The morning troupe doing morning things.
It was a studio night tonight, where the news team worked on news shows. They’re due out tomorrow.
Tonight, we’re upgrading the sofa! We bought memory foam to support the cushions. You trace outlines of each section, cut the three-inch foam, and then jam the foam inside the upholstery underneath the old stuff. That last part was a bit of a workout, but now the seats look full and new again. It’s an easy refurb of a 15-year-old set of furniture which is, otherwise, perfectly great.
It felt a little strange to sit on them for the first time, but better. For the first time in who knows how long, hips and knees are at the proper positions relative to one another when you’re relaxing. The important question: Is it good for naps?
So I have a weekend chore, then: taking a nap.
