Unexpected warmth

Some days are meant to be days of wandering and not working. Today was one of those days. I woke to a forecast of a warm last day of October, with temperatures predicted to be in the mid- to high-60s. The sky was studded with clouds, but there was no rain in sight. It seemed like a good fit for a bike ride, an unplanned vacation day.

The air even seemed to have a smell of warmth. I don't know if that's really possible, but my imagination says that it is.

Warmth, dry pavement, clouds with occasional rays of sunlight painting the trees, many with bare branches and some that are still gracefully showing brightly colored leaves.

An enjoyable and relaxing wander...

A flower? A wood carving? No to both - this beautiful piece of fungus was growing on a downed tree in the woods.

From beautifully colored flowers to fluff...

Magic movement

Morning dawns, alarm clock signals the start of a work day. Shower complete, ready to face the day, time to head downstairs for breakfast...

I opened the front door to retrieve the newspaper, and was very surprised to find my trash barrel standing in the middle of the driveway, relatively close to the house with the lid sitting on the ground. How very odd; it's just after 6 o'clock, and I've never seen the trash picked up this early. As I picked up the paper, I realized that while the trash barrel was not where I left it last night - it had not yet been emptied.

Was that self-propulsion of an inanimate object? Not this time. The strong winds of yesterday continued throughout the night, performing magic tricks for morning delight.

Wind won the day

I woke to the sound of the wind. Dry roads were tempting me to roll out on my bike, but the winds convinced me that walking was a better activity for today. Blowing, gusting, the wind speed when I headed out was between 25 and 28 miles per hour, with gusts to 47 miles per hour.

Today was a day to dream of a road that starts and ends at my front door where the wind is always at my back. I suppose that if the wind was really howling in a circle that I'd be in the middle of a tornado - so my dream of a tailwind day is just that, a dream.

Walking...

There are still some late-season blooms gracing gardens, hovering above the background of fallen leaves.

Amazingly some flowers that have gone to seed are still sporting their seedy look. It surprises me that the strong wind hasn't stripped the fluffy remains of the flower.

Many trees have totally bare branches, but patches of color still remain.

Some of the brighter leaves residing on the ground jumped up and grabbed my camera's eye.

Walking in sideways rain

Today was a day for relaxing, curling up with a good book, staying inside...

You know me though - in spite of the heavy, wind-driven rain, I needed to spend some time outside too. Walking was the activity of the day, supported by what was probably somewhat odd attire. My cycling rain jacket won the day, along a serious rain hat. To those two pieces of serious rain attire I added non-waterproof tights made of Power Stretch (a Malden Mills wonder fabric). These kept my legs dry in spite of the fact that they don't have any water repellant properties. The outside of the fabric is smooth, hiding a somewhat fleecy inside surface. Somehow the water just rolled off. My feet were another story; they were happy even though they were very wet. I chose not to wear my running shoes, figuring that it was so wet outside that it would take several days for them to dry out again. Instead my feet donned wool socks and a pair of Chaco sandals. The sandals (surprisingly enough) provide good foot support, and wool is the best there is at maintaining a semblance of warmth even when it's wet.

It was a wet but beautiful walk. Heavy rain was supplemented by a swirling wind, swirling and strong enough that I was surprised that my rain hat behaved itself and remained on my head. There were rivers running down both sides of the roads, and brightly colored leaves (enhanced to a shining surface by the flowing water) smiled up at me from the ground.

Photos today were limited to the sidewalk in front of my door where I could (somewhat) protect my camera. Potential photos jumped out at me as I walked in the rain, but those are only in my mind - no camera accompanied me on my walk.

Snowboarding? Bailey!

OK, OK, you're absolutely right - I am a little bit nutty! But you know, I think that trait runs in our family.

Bailey's parents (yes, we do share them) are headed to New York for the weekend, and while their hotel welcomes doggy guests, Bailey wouldn't respond too well to staying in a hotel room if his mom & dad happened to head out without him. Instead, he is visiting the kennel at his vet's office.

Shhh! He doesn't know it's a kennel - he says he's going to the mountains to try snowboarding for the first time.

The next time my people go away for a weekend without me I think I'll head out on my own adventure. Here's a picture of Denise and me soaking up the sun, pouring over a brochure in preparation for signing up for a snowboarding(?) weekend! Denise said that she doesn't like screaming down hills, so I guess this will be my very own adventure.

Fading light

It's been a week of walking (not riding) after work. It's the last week that the daylight comes even close to supporting a ride, but the cloud cover changes the quality of the available light. Walking works for now, with daylight supporting the beginning of my wander and flashing lights (clipped to my reflective belt) highlighting my presence along the side of the road as the sun drops below the horizon.

Walking observations... the setting sun highlighting a sky painted with clouds, trees bearing leaves and others flashing bare branches, wind rushing by, flocks of birds circling, dogs happily prancing next to their owners...

Fading colors highlighted by late day sunlight

A return to shoes

It's a solid month past the autumnal equinox. The days are noticeably cooler, and morning temperatures are chilly.

It's time - my feet have finally demanded that I start wearing shoes (and tights!) instead of my Chaco sandals. I seem to have this battle with myself every year over the changing of seasons; maybe something is telling me that if my feet stay relatively bare that the cold weather won't descend. I know better, and yes feet, I've finally listened and switched back to shoes for now.

Happy feet...

Coastal views

Daylight, riding, walking, soaking in the sunshine... while I can (and do) walk outside both with and without daylight, cycling is something that I reserve for daylight hours. Today's beautiful but cool weather demanded a ride in addition to a traipse along the coast.

My early morning ride was accompanied by temperatures in the very low 40s, which meant that it was time to start to figure out my off-season layers. Ah, a quick ride with the right clothing, a good way to start the day...

Ride complete, my bicycle happy, it was time to head for the New Hampshire coast. Feet were today's mode of transportation after an initial lift in my bright blue fossil fuel-powered vehicle. It was a good day for a walk along the coast, blue skies marked by both white and gray clouds, a quiet ocean, sea gulls (and mystery birds too) decorating the water and the sky. In a change from my usual solo wandering, today's walk was accompanied by conversation, a shared experience.

Thanks Annie. While I do enjoy my solo wanderings, sharing the experience is fun too. A good change of pace, an enjoyable afternoon...

Blue sky hiding behind lines of clouds, sunshine reflecting on the water, beauty

Bird posing, resting

Yes, I really do know that I shouldn't shoot directly into the sun. Most of the "into the sun" photos I took today really didn't work - but I like this one, highlighting the clouds.

Sea gulls playing, quiet waves rolling in to shore...

Puzzles of genes

How should I look at this puzzle? From the outside looking in, or from the inside looking out? Sometimes it is easier to look at things from the outside looking in - but perhaps that is really a way of ignoring a potential issue.

When a doctor recommended that I go for genetic counseling because of what appears to be a strong family history of colon cancer, I immediately accepted his suggestion. Why? Because knowing that I do or do not have a propensity for developing the disease gives me the option of scheduling tests (to hopefully identify anomalies before they become problems) on a more (or less) frequent basis. I suppose I could stick my head in the sand and pretend that the possibility of developing this nasty disease doesn't exist, but that doesn't feel right to me.

Friday afternoon I think I was on the inside looking out - even though at times during my conversations with the genetic counselor and the doc, it almost seemed as if I was standing on the outside looking in. There were questions to be answered, a profile to be built. There are genes to be tested, but unfortunately only some of the gene mutations that cause colon cancer can currently be identified. I suppose it's somewhat amazing that tests exist to identify even some of the bad genes. Some are better than none, right? And I found it interesting that the recommendations were to run the initial tests on the family member that contracted cancer the earliest (in terms of age). Apparently it's not as simple as testing the curious - as in testing me.

For now, it's a bit of a waiting game.

Puzzles abound, of genes, and of life...

Shadows and highlights

The sun snuck to the pavement through a thick canopy of trees, sometimes allowing me to see my own shadow, sometimes not.

Pockets of bright colors still greet the eye, even though there are already trees totally devoid of leaves.

Some of the leaves resting on the ground continue to share their bright colors.