Meet Butch

Smart Guy took this picture just a few minutes ago of Butch and me. I named her "Butch" because she's got that horizontal bar and could be mistaken for a boy, but she's definitely a girl; I know, she told me. She got a complete tuneup, new tires and brake pads, and really rides wonderfully. The guy at Kulshan Cycles told me, when I picked her up, that she has an 18" frame and was considered "top of the line back in the day." I rode the bike around the block before I took her in, and the ride now is completely different! Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day, so I rode to Fairhaven, about 6-8 miles. Lots of people were out enjoying the sunshine. I rode back along Boulevard Park to the bus station and took the bus for the last three miles, probably having ridden a total of 10-12 miles. My legs were getting tired. I managed to get the bike secured onto the front of the bus without any problem.

Today it's raining, so I skipped the morning walk, not to mention that the gardening muscles and bicycling muscles are both a bit on the sore side. I figure the rain is good for the garden and a day off is not going to hurt anything. The flowers are out everywhere, and these peonies say hello to me on my way to check my veggies in the garden. Aren't they pretty?

Tomorrow is looking like more of the same weather, which means no skydiving this weekend. Today it's raining and there's a 70% chance for tomorrow. Even if it's not raining, it's likely to be cloudy. Someone asked recently why we can't jump through clouds. It's an FAA regulation: when you jump out of the plane, you need to see the ground. A plane could be on the other side of the cloud. When we get ready to leave the plane, we take a good look around for any air traffic, and the pilot also keeps watch. Of course, if you happen to fall through a cloud, there's nothing to be done about it, you can't very well stop! The pilot can lose his or her license if he or she allows a parachutist to get out and jump through clouds. Back in 1967, sixteen skydivers jumped out through clouds over Lake Erie and drowned, thinking they were over land. I found a legal document online that tells the tale here.

I'll read some of the books I've got from the library, or maybe even spend some time walking around in the rain (I know for  fact I won't melt), but I probably won't be riding Butch, digging in the garden (which will just be mud), or jumping out of airplanes. The rain is falling gently on the roof right now. Oh, and just for your pleasure, I found that Ray Morris, one of the Flickr people I follow, recently caught this amorous picture of two eagles.

Ray Morris Flickr site

It's that time of year, I guess.

:-)