On the edge...

...of the bicycle commuting season, that is!

Every year I think that I'll be able to continue commuting to bike (two or three days a week) a little longer than the previous year. My commuting days sometimes begin in May, sometimes June, but they only nicely go until the end of August. Why? I'm not a fast rider, and I want to make sure I have enough daylight on both ends of the day. Yes, there are good lights available, but I'd rather not be on the road close to sunrise or sunset.

This morning woke me up both from a daylight and from a chill perspective. When my alarm clock chirped at 5 this morning, it was still dark out. Uh oh! It was full light when I left the house at 6, attired for the first time since early June in my normal biking clothes plus knee warmers and a wind jacket. This morning's low-50 degree temperatures was well below the recommended "protect your knees, cover them when the temperature edges below 65". The temperature edged closer to that magic number as I rolled closer to the office, but my extra layers were definitely needed this morning. The ride home will be a different story though.

I'll be traveling on (with?) my bike between September 2nd and 11th. I just checked the National Weather Service's sun statistics page for September. Hmm.... I wonder if I could push my commute by bike season a little past my vacation? It looks like there just might be enough daylight if I ride a straight line (bewteen home and work and back again) instead of tacking on some extra loops on my way home. Or am I just dreaming?

Pieces of the puzzle

Vacation is just three short weeks away, and the pieces of the puzzle are very nicely falling into place.

My destination hasn't changed since I made my initial decision just a little over a week ago. Where am I going? I'm heading to coastal Maine, starting in the west in what's referred to as Mid-Coast Maine, and going as far as the Schoodic Peninsula in Downeast Maine. It's an area that is very do-able as an out-and-back self-contained (bicycle) tour from home, but I've decided to do it (mainly) as a series of day rides. That way I'll be able to focus on the areas that interest me most instead of spending a great deal of my time on the bike in "transportation" mode.

I've made reservations at B&Bs, and I've perused maps and potential bike routes. From a biking standpoint, there's a mapped loop ride that I want to do that starts in Rockland, some wandering along the coast from Camden to Castine, an out-and-back ride from Castine to Stonington (that I'm adapting from a published loop ride of Deer Isle / Stonington, and riding in Acadia National Park, both on Mt. Desert Island and on the Schoodic Peninsula. Then there's a new bridge in Bucksport - the Penobscot Narrows Bridge - that has an observation tower that my camera is screaming to visit, and there's walking to be done along the coast, and...

Seeds floating, floral beauty

Critters posing

Catching bugs with my camera is one thing, but convincing a frog to sit still is something else entirely. I stopped along the edge of a pond to enjoy the lily pads and the flowers. I was lucky enough to have a camera in my hand when I encountered a (somewhat skittish) frog. I wish it had been my SLR with the big zoom lens attached, but even the little camera managed a somewhat reasonable capture. Fun!

Dripping wet

The forecast called for a good riding day today, so when I woke to a gray world outside of my window I chose to get up and roll into the fog.

I could easily have rolled over and gone back to sleep for another hour, but I'm fighting to get two commute-to-work-by-bike days in this week. Today and Thursday are the only days that wore a prediction of dry weather. That meant today needed to be a riding day.

The morning fog was supposed to burn off by 9AM (and it did). The visibility at my 6AM departure time was OK at ground level; I didn't think my bicycle and I would be hidden from view. The light was dim enough though that I skipped my morning dose of sunscreen, something that I never do! Given the dim light, I decided to help more than I do in full sunlight. I grabbed a high visibility reflective belt, attached two bright blinking red lights to it, and headed down the road.

The temperature was a pleasant mid-60s on my ride in, but the fog was like a light mist. I was soaked by the end of my ride. Luckily my riding clothes returned to a dry state before I headed back out on my commute home this afternoon.

In spite of the fog it was a good morning ride. The sun appeared for a while, then hid behind thick gray clouds for my ride home. All things considered, it was a good riding day.

Flying, dancing...

Beautiful creatures... birds, chipmunks, little red squirrels...

It was a weekend of visiting, and a weekend of exercising my camera. Since my folks do a good job of feeding the birds, all I needed to do was stand out on the deck with my camera. Who came to visit? Chickadees, nuthatches, cardinals, hummingbirds, and more! There were some funny little four-legged creatures too. The birds flew (for real), and the chipmunks and squirrels flew across the ground and up the trees, leaping across long distances, making me smile.

More photos of these wonderful beings can be seen in my gallery Tiny creatures, sharing space.

And no, I didn't forget Bailey! For those of you who don't know him, Bailey is the dachshund who runs my parents' household. He is a real character, but he doesn't often consent to posing for photographs. Here's a shot (from the back) as he is waiting for his mom to return from running out to pick up a newspaper. Mom? Mom? Are you coming home?

He did allow me to take a few more photos, viewable in my gallery Bailey captured.

Morning...

Early morning, I wandered outside to see the moon glowing in a brilliant blue sky.

A vacation conundrum

I think it's well past time to carry on a conversation with myself...

Denise, what are you thinking? Or should I say not thinking?

Vacation destinations usually jump into my head during the winter months and solidify as spring rolls into summer. It's the beginning of August, and my target timeframe for a vacation is the end of August or the beginning of September. My target destination? It's been a total mystery for a long time, but I think a decision is finally at hand.

Initially I was thinking about returning to Nova Scotia. I have a lot of exploring left to do there! It wasn't until very recently that I realized why my enthusiasm wasn't bubbling over. The trip there was to be a combination of cycling and hiking and wandering with the assistance of my bright blue fossil-fuel-powered vehicle. I would really like to get to the Cabot Trail on the far eastern side of the province, and because of the grades of the hills (short & steep), I don't think I want to ride it. But somehow, looking at the amount of driving I was going to need to do just didn't excite me. I went back to thinking, dreaming...

I know that I want to spend some time in Acadia National Park, riding, and playing with my camera. Yes, I know I was there twice last year, and twice in 2005 too. I think I've developed an addiction to that park, and in my mind that's not a bad thing. OK, Maine...

I think, I think... I'm going to head for the Mid-Coast region of Maine. It's a section of the coast where I haven't spent any time at all. My plans are pretty fluid right this moment - instead of heading out the last week of August, I think I'll drive up on the Monday Labor Day holiday. (The area is just too close to the Boston area to wander up there for the holiday weekend, too many people...) I'll probably do a day trip or two on my bike, plus head out for a several day (well, probably a 2 or 3 day) tour. That piece will probably start in (or near) Bucksport and head down to the tip of Deer Isle. And then I'll spend a few days in Acadia, riding, walking, exercising cameras. How's that for a plan?

My original thoughts were to take two weeks, and this will probably be short of that. Hmm... no plane fare for this trip, still a chunk of vacation time remaining after this trip, maybe I'll balance things out and take a long weekend hiking and camera trip somewhere later in the fall. My dreams (right now) are leaning towards Death Valley for that shorter trip.

Ah, a puzzle on the way to a solution...

More SmugChanges

...changes to my (SmugMug) photo galleries, that is!

I've been experimenting with the look and feel of my photo galleries. The goal of my playing, my changes, was a cleaner look. The result? (I think) I'm happy for now.

First, I collapsed what was two lines into one, my site name followed by a small thumbnail of a photo followed by navigation, the ability to jump to different pages. I like the look better now.

And I changed the looks of the gallery categories page. I wanted bigger images to represent the categories. After all, this is a photo gallery, and the emphasis should be on the photos, right?

Changes complete... at least until the next time the urge for change strikes again...

And, the more I look at it, the more I like the new look!

Unfolding...

...stages of floral life, beauty in small things...