Kenny Smith | A remarkable thing happens …

adventures / photo / weekend — Comments Off
09
Aug 15

Welcome back

Hi. How’ve you been? I haven’t written anything here in two weeks, but it seems like it was yesterday. Here are some pictures to catch you up on the last few days.

One day it rained. We had flowers in bloom and the petals of this one caught a lot of water. I thought that was pretty, so I tried, and failed, to capture it:

We had great chicken biscuits from Plucked Up, a hipster chicken joint (of all things), a Columbus restaurant on the recommendation of a stranger. She did not steer us wrong:

The homemade biscuit had a spicy pineapple marmalade.

The Yankee made homemade pasta. It was so delicious we dried a little bit for later:

So we’ll be getting a pasta maker soon, I suspect.

I made a small light diffuser box, which was the second most fun thing I did in the last two weeks. The first two or three things I shot in it were cat toys, because they were nearby. Now I’m wandering around looking for small things to photograph.

Here’s an Franklin D. Roosevelt – John Garner pin, from Green Duck Co., Chicago, circa 1933 or 1937. Garner helped push FDR’s New Deal legislation through Congress, but “Cactus Jack” and the president would clash over policy during the Depression. Garner also believed Roosevelt should not seek a third term and challenged FDR for the 1940 Democratic presidential nomination. Dropped by Roosevelt and beaten, Garner left D.C. in 1941 after four hugely successful decades, promising to never cross the Potomac again, and he never did.

And here’s a Unigate milk bottle featuring an ad for a shopping center in South London. It’ll run you about £6 on eBay. I got it because I liked the graphics and I asked nicely at a cafe. Milk bottles, it turns out, have become a big nostalgia item in England.

The most exciting thing I’ve done in the past two weeks was to take a 30+ mile bike ride on my new Specialized which had at least three categorized climbs on it. And I got to do it chasing The Yankee across state lines.

She took these pictures near the end of that ride:

And to wrap up the exercise for July:

If I’m going to eat chicken biscuits with spicy pineapple marmalade I need to exercise more than that.

links / memories / Paris / photo / weekend — Comments Off
26
Jul 15

Remembering Paris

We watched the last stage of the Tour de France tonight, which concludes after three weeks of racing across the country finishes on the famed Avenue des Champs-Élysée. They do several laps, a downtown criterium winding down the world’s toughest endurance race, and they turn around at the Arc de Triomphe.

Over and over we saw the place where we stood just last month:

You can see more of our day in Paris here, here (including the Arc) and here.

And, with that, this blog is going to take two weeks off. Expect a ton of fun stuff when you come back on August 8th. Be safe, have fun until then.

Catch you on the flip side.

cycling / photo / Specialized / weekend — Comments Off
25
Jul 15

I got a new bike

Recently I purchased a used, and pretty, Specialized Allez:

Got a good deal, but it took some time to get it ready. And, today, we had our first ride. We’re starting the process of figuring out one another. I’m guessing it will take about 100 miles or so to dial in the sizes and figure out all the quirks: the way it moves, how it shifts, where the creaks are and so on.

Some people believe riding is about what you can do. I used to think it was about the person, but also what the bike could do. But then, for a few days a couple of years ago, I was feeling strong feeling and had probably the closest I’ll ever experience to what the French call la volupte, a voluptuousness meant to describe an abundant pleasure to the senses.

It was like being pulled over asphalt. The bike, my lovely Felt, was showing me what I could do.

Each bike is different, I’d imagine. Each model is certainly unique. I don’t have all of the design or engineering wherewithal to understand or describe how one is different than another. You feel it when you ride it, though, when you get to know one machine next to another.

So, yeah, the bike has to teach me things. Which probably sounds silly, but only if you think of sailors talking about their vessels having personality sounds silly. Which I do.

No matter what I think, I think, this new bike will show me anyway.

photo / weekend — Comments Off
24
Jul 15

According to my records …

It has been two weeks since we’ve shown off the black cat.

Allie says hello. That is all.

cycling / Friday / photo — Comments Off
23
Jul 15

They call it ‘The Shoelaces’

I don’t talk about televised cycling here — and you’re welcome — but today’s stage of the Tour de France was a special one. I enjoy the racing, but I’m really watching for the scenery, particularly of the mountain stages, like today’s. And this road, Les Lacets de Montvernier, appearing in the race for the first time, is beautiful:

They’re calling it a legendary climb already.

It took six years to build, but finished in 1934 the road connected the little village of Montvernier, high above on a plateau, with civilization below. There are 17 hairpins climbing just over 900 feet in 2.5 kilometers on a narrow road with an average eight percent incline. (Plenty steep for me.)

Above is a picture of my television screen, of course. Here’s a shot from the Tour site:

Magnificent. I include this here because, you never know, I may make it to that part of France one day. If I do I will find a bike to ride up that scenic goat track. More of the beautiful views here and here.