summertime

Summertime and the living is…mercy, it’s hot! As much as I’d like to chill in the coolness that is home, one must venture out into the heat that is beastly as life goes on. I marvel at the fact that I survived Egypt two years ago as I jump up in order to get outside as early as possible to move about in the least offensive air. Now if only the stores would cooperate with my schedule! Since they do not, I found myself shade hopping a little before 10:00AM yesterday as I ran a couple of errands that couldn’t wait for the temperature to drop. Of course, I had my camera and quickly discovered -- taking a picture trumps the unbearable uncomfortableness that accompanies 100 degrees of high humidity insanity!

A very shiny bike bell blinded me as I rounded a corner. It reminded me of my first bicycle, a pink Schwinn, and how much I loved riding, how me and my friends would climb a steep hill so we could turn around, take hands and feet off the handle bars and pedals and fly down at exorbitant speeds, screaming all the way! How exhilarating it was and nobody cared about the summer temperatures, we were just glad school was out for a couple of months.

I also noticed this rusted bell. For many, it might signal neglect; to me it is a rich patina, a finish that I find most appealing. Looking at the photo later made me wonder once again if inanimate objects have feelings, that bell seriously seems to be snuggling up to the brown handle in a most adoring way!

Seeing the bicycles sitting in that front yard got me to reminiscing about a bike ride I took early in the morning while visiting a bed & breakfast along the shore. How nice it was tooling around in the quiet that was dawn well before the world was awake. I love the stillness found just before sunrise particularly when I’m near the water. Be it a ride around the town lake or a walk on the beach, it is a meditation that thankfully for me rests just behind my closed eyes.

Headed there now, so…

keep your peepers open!®