Falling, flowing water

Today was another gift from the weather wizard, summer in April. I thought about driving to the coast, but then I decided to let my bicycle wheels follow roads closer to home. I stopped to watch the water jumping over the Lawrence Dam on the Merrimack River, happily exercising my camera.

And what luck! As I was snapping away, two men walking across the bridge stopped to chat, to share the wonder of the flowing water. I didn't know, but now I do... they told me that it there is a path that leads under the bridge, allowing visual access to the water falling over the dam. Of course that's where I headed next! Across the road, through an industrial area, and on to a park and a path next to the river. Hmmm... the path ends too soon. But look! I can walk across some dirt, and I'm standing under the bridge at the base of the dam, watching the water fall.

Click to see more of the images that jumped into my camera today at Lawrence Dam.

A bike-triggered light

Hey! The new bicycle-activated lights really do work.

I just missed the light to turn onto route 125 as I was heading home from my ride this afternoon. I was alone in the road at a newly installed traffic light. I rolled to a stop right over the cyclist symbol in the road. The light changed! Awesome...

It's so nice to see that these new symbols are not placebos.

Packaging decisions

Do you ever wonder how food companies decide how to package their products?

A couple of weeks ago I had a chance to taste World of Grain cookies at Whole Foods. Ah, tasty! and (for cookies) they have some good qualities from a nutrition standpoint. The product inside of the box is good, but the packaging? I'd have to say it needs a great deal of improvement.

A box of cookies contains 4 inner bags, each containing (about) 7 cookies, 130 calories for the contents of the bag. OK, 4 bags, 7 cookies, that's 28 cookies at 18.5 calories each. The box seems to imply that a bag is a serving, and that was confirmed by the company representative running the tasting. For me? Two of these tasty treats satisfies my after-dinner craving for something a little sweet. Two, not seven.

On the company's Who are we? page, they state that "We are ever mindful of how our business is connected to the world around us, and in that spirit we weigh our options with our customers, suppliers, the planet and our families in mind.". Something about this just doesn't sit right with me. Setting a serving size at a full (inner) bag makes no sense. I believe there are many people out there who will grab a bag as a serving just because it is packaged that way. What's wrong with one cookie? Two? What's wrong with leaving it to the consumer to decide how cookies really fit into a healthy diet? The statement about weighing options with the planet in mind? A box and 4 bags could be replaced with a single bag, a much smaller waste stream. What are they really thinking?

Will I buy these again? If the packaging is changed, then yes, I would buy them again. But the excessive waste - 4 bags + 1 box - when 1 reasonably sealed bag would do really bothers me. For now these are definitely not on my shopping list.

Pre-emergence

Flowers follow rain

Rainbow doubled

I watched a painted sky as I drove home from work this afternoon. It was full of bright blue patches, moving fluffy white and dark gray clouds, rays of sunlight shimmering. Closer to the ground, bright yellow flowers popped, forsythia glowing.

I wanted to be traveling under my own power, walking or biking, accompanied by my camera. But, I was driving so I had to be content with simple looks.

The closer I got to home, the darker the sky became.

Home, it was time to walk. I headed out, shielded by an umbrella as the wind kicked up and rain started falling. The wind tried (and failed) to steal my umbrella.

Walking, dark gray to my right, wind, rain...

Looking to my left, there was blue sky decorated with white clouds, and look! A brilliant rainbow appeared, a double rainbow. What a fabulous sight.

White flowers, blue sky

Ah, another beautiful day... cool and sunny with a crystal clear sky.

Popping flowers

Finally, a sane sign

Finally! I've always questioned the wording on signs telling a cyclist how to trigger the traffic lights to change.

The older signs tend to be at intersections where I believe the magic loop is missing - so no amount of standing on a line will change the light from red to green. The old signs? Most of them say "Cyclist stand on line for green". I suppose the language was correct and my interpretation was incorrect. The first time I saw those words I thought I was supposed to stop at the line when the light was green. It could have been me, but I've heard many other complaints about that wording.

Today, as I was rolling home, I saw a sign that actually made sense to me. And more than that, there were lines surrounding the cyclist sign on the pavement that indicated that there really were sensors in place. Awesome!

Bare knees!

It was a magical day, a day with the temperature jumping into the high 60s. Warmth!

I worked from home today, so when I was done talking with my computer at the end of my work day my bicycle was ready to roll (and so was I!). It was 68 degrees when I headed out, just over the "cover your knees in temperatures below 65" rule. Oh, you didn't know about that rule? It's a word of warning to cyclists to prevent knee injuries. Pedaling in circles for many miles takes happy knees, and I try to keep mine that way.

Bare knees, bare arms, no layers needed today...

The sky was bright blue, decorated with puffs of white. As I rode, I passed other people riding, walking, watching, enjoying the warmth. The warmth stayed with me for the entire ride, quiet air transitioned to wind, and gray started to crowd the sky.

Oh! What a wonderful spring day. Thank you weather wizard!