may 15

It was a cool 58 F when I left at 3:30 pm.  Winds were 13 mph from the SSE.  I was late so the tailwind was helpful.  Here's the start of the bike path.

After my exercise class I looked for the peregrine falcon.  I brought my binoculars.  He wasn't there.  Then I got on my bike, heard a noise and he or she was flying out of the nest.  I scrambled to get out the binoculars but barely saw him before he left behind the giant power plant.  But it was still fun seeing him fly.   

The lilacs smelled wonderful:

Behind Olbrich I saw a hawk (I think?) of some sort.  I looked in my book later, but I still don't know what it was.  I did have my binoculars so got a nice look.  He seemed to have bigger eyes than the hawks in the book.  I'm a novice though.  I guess the common hawks around here are Coopers and Red Tailed.

I might have to start bringing a better camera on my rides...

may 14

I saw a peregrine falcon today!   I read about it in the newspaper.  They built a nest on top of the Blount Street coal plant and it finally attracted a pair of the falcons.   You can see it from, where else, the bike path!   I go by this on the way to my exercise class.  Here's the nest in the tiny little dark box in between the smoke stacks:

Here's a 'closeup' of the falcon.  Okay, you can barely see it.  I'm going to start bringing my binoculars!    This was about 6:15 pm (for future reference--I've been looking for about a week).

Okay, here's the usual start of the bike path:

It was 62 F at 3:30 pm, winds 13 mph from the WNW, so mostly a headwind.   On my return ride it was 63 F, winds down to 4 mph, so not much tailwind.  darn.

Starkweather creek is higher than usual after last night's rain.  

Here's the puddle I went through last night only it was much much bigger then.

We lost a branch from last night's storm.  wah.

It is that beautiful time of year.  The grass and leaves are "spring green."  There's nothing like it.

may 13

Lots of places to go again today, rain in the forecast, no preparation for it, only my shoes got wet, and they needed a washing anyway.

The start of the bike path at 4 pm:

Temperature was 63 F, winds south at 10 mph, gusting to 23.    It was a tailwind at first, which was good because I was late; then a partial headwind but not bad.  The humidity was nice.

After yoga I headed over to church for a meeting and a work night of painting.  Temperature was 63 F again, winds south at 8 mph.  This was a mostly tailwind, yes!  good because I was late again.  Fortunately there is another great bike path to get me most of the way.  It goes along the Yahara river, under E. Wash, then jogs over to the railroad tracks on Johnson St.  Then I get on the sidewalk and cross a bad intersection at First street, where the cars are turning right from Johnson, and there's a sign that tells them yield to pedestrians but it's dangerous to assume they are going to yield to me.   

Then I was inside for 3.5 hours during which time we had a whole bunch of thunderstorms with 1.2" of rain.  I heard the thunder but it was muffled.  Fortunately it stopped when I left at 9:30 pm.  Temperature was 64 F, winds decreased from 25 to 10 mph from NW during my ride home, gusting to 35.  This was mostly a tailwind.  ha!  I love it when I get tailwinds coming and going.   It was a pleasant ride home.  There was one large puddle that went over my pedals, and my shoes got a soaking.  But they were my muddy paint/garden shoes so it was a good thing.

may 12

I had lots of places to go yesterday afternoon, and got to do it all on my bike.  nice. 

It was 67 degrees F, with winds 18 mph, from the South, gusting to 26 mph!   Fortunately, my first stop was to the north where I got my haircut.  

Start of the bike path:

I didn't take anymore pictures, but it was a nice afternoon.  My second appointment was at the gym.  I was early so didn't mind riding a bit into the wind.  I stopped at the Yahara river and read some work stuff for about 15 minutes.  Let's see, at this time, 3:53 pm, temperature was 70, winds 23 mph from the SSE gusting to 32.2.   We did our workout outside, which was great.    Then I went to my church for a couple of meetings.  I didn't have time to shower, I wonder if I stank.  I was in a hurry but now I had a tailwind.    I got home at 10 pm, was riding into the wind, still 17 mph from the South, but it was pleasant.  Night-time rides are always pleasant.  But then, so are daytime rides.

may 11

I'm still adjusting to my schedule change.  I miss my morning exercise classes--the classmates and teachers.  That's the hardest part.   The rest is probably an improvement, especially for work, but also for having more relaxing evenings.   Here's the start of the bike path 3:30 pm:

Temperature was a cool 60 F and winds were calm.  Pretty nice.

Oh, here's an advantage to the afternoon schedule (on Monday anyway): a yoga class follows my "body power" class so I can do both and it doesn't take too much time or make me too tired.  

After that I went grocery shopping and rode home by the lake.  

Here's my favorite spot.  Every day I think, oh this looks so nice in the lighting---it probably looks the same as yesterday but it seems fresh to me.

Temperature was still 60, winds 5 mph from the WSW.  The lighting on the lake is nice in the evening.

may 9

Oh my gosh, what a gorgeous day.    Even though my bike ride was in the afternoon, here's a morning shot showing how much the sun has moved since winter.  Back in winter, it used to rise over the blue house to the right of the tree.  Here's a picture from winter  with the same tree at left.  well, in that shot, the sun hasn't risen yet, but it will rise over the blue house or maybe a little to the right.

Okay, now it's the start of my bike ride at 4:55 pm.  Temperature was 74 degrees F, winds 3.5 mph.  Perfect!   I felt sorry for the people in their cars!    And it smelled soooo goood.  Okay, I think I can adjust to my new schedule just fine.

uh-oh, is it going to rain?

on the way home at 7 pm.  This is one of my favorite spots, the Yahara River,  though I am not a good enough photographer to demonstrate it.  I love the way the light reflects off the river.  It looks different every day because of different lightings and sky conditions.  And there's usually ducks.

Here's why it smells so good:

and especially this, the lilacs:

Once again it didn't rain until after I got home.  One of these days, I'm going to get soaked.  Unless I pay attention and bring a rain coat.

may 7

I'm still trying to get the hang of this new schedule.  I miss my morning commute and my morning classes, but there are some advantages to this too.  I definitely got more work done in the last two days than, well, let's just leave the past behind, like the rich white boys do.  I must have caught a frontal passage when I left at 4:30 pm because it felt like a strong headwind to me.  The almanac says temperature was 70 F and winds  9 mph from the WSW gusting to 17 mph.  It felt more like 17 mph so maybe there were a lot of gusts.   Here's the start of the bike path:

On the way home the sky had cleared and the winds were 8 mph from the west.  I wouldn't have minded a little payback in the form of stronger tailwinds but it was beautiful and probably more pleasant this way.  This way I ambled more slowly and enjoyed the evening light with the sun at my back.  Okay, score 1 point for the evening commute.  Here's the Atwood community gardens:

The hill going up to my house was also pretty in the evening light:

Now I just have to get used to the idea of not working in the evenings.  I think I'll learn to enjoy that too as soon as I get out of the habit of thinking I should be working.