Readers of previous incarnations of this blog may recall past reflections on my ambiguous feelings toward Sundays. Many people I’ve talked to who report for work without fail on Monday mornings share these ambiguous feelings. Sunday is supposedly part of the weekend, but it often feels like a day of counting the hours down to the start of another work week. Today I decided, not quite consciously, to fill my Sunday with activities in order to distract myself from thinking about the inevitable surrender of my time tomorrow to the people who cut my paycheck. I rose early and joined my good friend betes for a brisk birding jaunt through Fort McHenry. We ended up with a total of 15 species, not bad for the first day of February and without even entering the woods. From there I hit the grocery store for the week’s shopping (not exactly fun, but necessary and capable of producing a feeling of accomplishment). An unseasonably warm afternoon inspired me to seize the bike by the horns (i.e. handlebars) and cruise the county roads for a couple of hours. This adventure confirmed my suspicion that I had indeed fallen badly out of shape. A winter without a gym membership was apparently a bad idea. Anyway, back home from my ride I dashed out a spate of cooking, then gobbled up dinner. Now I am in repose, imbued with the pleasant weariness that results from a fully active day. Sunday blues, I have vanquished you!
All posts in category cycling
reclaiming sunday from ambiguity
Posted by sean on February 1, 2009
https://sd-stewart.com/2009/02/01/reclaiming-sunday-from-ambiguity/
derailed
I’ve been assaulted all week by a horrid cold that is reluctant to unhand me. Today I’d hoped to make the recovery needed to take a birding trip tomorrow, but instead I woke to find that the cold had triggered my asthma, which had been lying quietly dormant since early summer. Hooray. I haven’t ridden my bike since last Friday, and that was only a quick jaunt down to the post office and back. I haven’t commuted on it in over a week, and I haven’t taken it on one of my mandatory restorative rides into the country for two weeks. No wonder I am out of sorts. I have been sickly and stagnant and increasingly cranky. The antidote applied this afternoon was good mail read in the sunny post office parking lot. Just in the nick of time.
Posted by sean on October 3, 2008
https://sd-stewart.com/2008/10/03/derailed/
mt zion road
Up in Carroll County there is a road called Mt Zion Road. For as long as I have been biking up in those parts (about 3 years), Mt Zion Road has been closed to thru traffic. There is a detour to follow that involves riding on Dark Hollow Road (scary!) and also includes some unpleasantly brutal hills. I have dutifully followed the detour every time. However, last month my curiosity got the best of me and I turned down Mt Zion Road in order to find out just exactly why a road would be closed for 3 straight years. Well, it turns out that Mt Zion Road is in fact a wonderfully pleasant road! For one thing, there are NO cars on it, which just in itself can make a road wonderful. But it is also beautiful because there are a lot of trees and fields, and only a few houses. It is also a very quiet road. Anyway, I biked on for a couple of miles or so and eventually came to the root of the problem: a small bridge only about 15 feet long or so spanning a tiny country creek. Apparently the bridge can no longer support automotive traffic. There were barricades up on either side of it. However, my bike fit through quite nicely. On the other side, grass had begun growing up through cracks in the pavement. Nature was doing her best to reclaim her rightful land. I lazily rode along a bit farther before stopping to eat a banana in the middle of the road, with tall trees on either side and birds chirping and flying here and there. I thought about how much I love abandoned roads. I also wondered if the residents were opposed to the bridge being repaired. When functional, I am sure it’s a well-used road due to its location. However, if I lived on Mt Zion Road, I’d be hoping for that bridge to be busted forever. Just the other day I rode down there again. A goldfinch led the way, and I later stopped to greet a couple of burros. They seemed quite interested in me, although they got skittish when I tried to approach the fence. So I rode on and later stopped after crossing the bridge, ate a Clif bar, and absorbed the silence and the visual beauty of a creek winding through verdant fields.
That’s all for today, but before I sign off I wanted to commemorate the passing of a literary giant. You were one of the greats, Aleksandr. Best wishes on the next leg of your journey.
Posted by sean on August 3, 2008
https://sd-stewart.com/2008/08/03/mt-zion-road/
miscellany
Some (or one) of the squirrels has finally figured out how to reach the birdfeeder. I don’t know how he did it…must’ve scaled the outside wall of the house because it’s too far to jump from the nearest tree. The other day he was sitting in the tray under the feeder, filling his face with seed. Today he was actually sitting on the feeder itself. When I scared him, he leapt off the feeder, which is a good 20 feet up, and flew through the air, landing square on his feet on the ground. I was impressed, to say the least. Hopefully it’s just been a fluke, but I tend to think he’s probably out there spreading the word to all his squirrel buddies.
There have been a lot of nuthatches around and they’ve gotten really bossy. They flare up their wings and scare off the smaller birds. For some reason, they remind me of the Joker in Batman.
The mourning doves eat tons of seed. Right now there are four of them on top of the birdfeeder and another two sitting on the ledge. It’s ridiculous. They are also really messy eaters, but luckily the new tray catches most of what they dump out as they eat. I think they work in tandem: one sits on the feeder ledge scooping seed off the edge down to the one below that’s sitting in the tray. Actually I don’t think they’re bright enough to be doing this on purpose, but it sure seems that way.
I finally spotted a hummingbird at the feeder out front. That was exciting!
Yesterday I went for a 50 mile bike ride. I saw a deer, a groundhog, a rabbit, chipmunks, squirrels, and a lot of birds: the full roster of suburban wildlife. I have too much time on my hands, and I feel like I fritter it away. I don’t do anything productive. I sit and watch the birds or I ride my bike. I drink too much coffee. Sometimes I cook or bake. This morning I made a no-bake pie. It took about 5 minutes. I’m not dissatisfied or discontent. Or maybe I am. I don’t know. I just feel like I waste a lot of time. But I’m not sure what I could be doing that would make me feel better about how I spend my time. I guess that mostly I regret not writing more, but I’m just not motivated right now. And when you’re not motivated, nothing good comes out.
I’m glad it’s summer. I’m glad I’ve had so many opportunities to go on long rides. I wish my friends hadn’t left, but I know they’re having a great time.
I wish I knew what I should be doing with myself.
Posted by sean on June 20, 2008
https://sd-stewart.com/2008/06/20/miscellany/
monday rant
President Shrub has this to say about how to deal with the current oil/gas crisis:
“I’ve proposed to the Congress that they open up ANWR, open up the Continental Shelf, and give this country a chance to help us through this difficult period by finding more supplies of crude oil, which will take the pressure off the price of gasoline,” Bush said Monday.
Every time I think he couldn’t possibly say something even more asinine, he goes off and does just that.
This is his solution? Look for more oil?? The lack of creativity and foresight in that solution is staggering. When I think about what Planet Bush would look like, I see oil wells as far as the eye can see and nothing else. And then when the last well runs dry, we all just set on each other like a pack of hyenas, cannibalizing the last bits of life left on the planet, until finally the very last one of us chokes on a stray bone, dies, and our once green Earth dwindles forlornly around the sun for another few millenia, slowly baking into oblivion.
Meanwhile, Obama is spotted out biking with his family. So help me, I will vote for this man, if only because he rides a bike. All I ever saw Bush ride, other than the coattails of his family name, was a Segway…and he couldn’t even stay on.
Posted by sean on June 9, 2008
https://sd-stewart.com/2008/06/09/monday-rant/
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