nice pipe!

NICE PIPE!

this shot was taken yesterday afternoon

riding with a pipe was not an option at the same time today

today was wet snow also known as winter mix or rain

got home a little wet from my short straight commute home
the rain and snow came to me as somewhat of a surprise
I left out this morning unprepared for anything wet
escentially head to tow fleece
windstopper top... but fleece just the same

I had gotten dressed after a short pre-work trail run with my black dog brutus
nothing dramatic... maybe twenty-five... maybe thirty-five
there were some short hills
I was comfortable with some thick layers on that short run
so I dressed for cold on the bike
yet I did not dress for cold and wet

on my short ride into work I rode alongside heidi on her jake the snake commuter rig
we talked about things
we talked about her two hour ride before work
we talked about the bac openings
we talked about the basic good morning how ya doing stuff

we cut lanes and moved at a rate far faster than the car traffic
we stopped at a red light
there was a large city truck
one of those city trucks filled with sand or salt
this was the first time I had considered snow or ice for this day
heidi had not heard any forecast of snow either

while working in the salt mines it snowed
in the early morning it snowed beautiful quarter size snow flakes
when I was near a window I fought impulse to day dream
luckily my day was spent deep in the mines without the distraction of the glorious snowfall
by afternoon that glorious snowfall turned into a rainy mix

I got home a little wet
not so wet that I bothered to change before I grabbed the shovel
I knew that if I went inside I would sit down
so I started to shovel
shoveling is like road riding
it takes a while for the boredom to hypnotize you
hypnotize you into enjoying things

I enjoy shoveling snow
it can be very zen
like raking sand

I shoved a path from my back door to the alley
then I shovel around the kid's clubhouse ladder
I did not shovel the complete porch
before I shoveled out front I shoveled in the alley
shoveled around my trashcans

shoveled an area for my arrivals and departures on the bike
if it ices... I like to have a good place to start and stop

after shoveling my front steps and some of the sidewalk in each direction I took brutus out
actually brutus had been out with me the whole time I was shoveling
so when I got him across the street in the woods the hike was short
I could see that the snow was invigorating him
this was not enough to convince me that I needed to actually hike him
it was raining and I was already wet
brutus picked up on this so he did his business and we went home

I really would not have been so wet had I not spent so much time messing with the flow of the slush down the curbs and in the alley

no ride after work, but I did have that short run in the morning
if that excuse does not work I am going to try the days off are as important as days on alabi