This is the first time we we've ridden together there since then. Last year, I took the XtraCycle. This year, Sarah and I have faster rides. I am savoring these last hot days. It could stay like this for a very long time, as far as I'm concerned.
For the past seven or eight years, we've had a vegetable garden in our front yard. It's a practicality issue - the backyard is far too shady. In the last few years, I've made a truce with the many flowers that sprout up and intermingle with the eggplant, beets and beans. Flowers are now very welcome. They also attract bees of all varieties that seem to enjoy pollinating my vegetables as much as they do the flowers.
Besides attracting honeybees, the conversations that you have while weeding, with walkers and cyclists who stop to chat, are great. Also, many of them don't mind taking a zucchini or some beets home with them. Fantastic!
Lately, there seems to be a new push for an "urban homestead" mentality. I like it. The rising price of fuel, scarcity of water and disconnect from where we get our food has driven much of this. It would be cool to have some bee hives in our yard, and more fruit trees.
Mayor Verner has been taking a lot of heat for her water conservation platform. I don't think the Spokesman-Review did her any favors in the way they framed her stance. But hey, they have never really liked Mary and that's how they do business. The letters to the editor have been especially angry. Cha ching!
Rumor is Mary has received some telephone threats against her person regarding her desire to move Spokane toward common sense in its water usage. I am sure the threats have been anonymous. Oh well, I am sure these irrational bullies are a miserable lot - no matter what.
All to say, putting in a vegetable/flower garden in your front yard is a great way to meet neighbors, save water, enjoy good food and do something "commonsensical" in a society that has, for a long time, favored the detrimental "nonsensical." Our dwindling bee population will thank you too.
If some of these anonymous cowards spent more time pulling weeds in their own garden - making it a better place, maybe they would think twice before threatening people who want to make Spokane a better place.
Well, whatever it is, it's back for Hoopfest weekend. I think the cement blocks for the guy wires holding up the mast is a change from last year. I will have to go back and look at old pictures. The whole thing is still unmarked. Definitely cell phone looking antennae.
A nice juxtaposition with the Vietnam War Memorial.
If it is a Homeland Security thing for Hoopfest, Evildoers may have found its weak link, as it appears to be unplugged.
I have never seen a receptacle like this at Miller's Hardware. It looks like you would have to special order it from Homeland Depot.
Took a great trip down the coast to San Francisco and back up through Sacramento and the interior of Oregon. My family and I had a great time.
Used to be that going to places like Eugene or SF would make me think about moving there. Not anymore. Instead, this trip has renewed my belief that Spokane is a great place to live.
Every town in Oregon and CA that we visited had dedicated bike lanes and most had plenty of bicyclists on them. With gasoline costing $4.80 per gallon (NoCal), it's no wonder.
California was hot - really hot - pushing 100 in the city. It was also very smoky from all the fires. Lake Shasta is almost dry and there isn't much snow left on Mt. Shasta. I've never seen more people in the Bay Area. It is packed. One local writer stated that San Francisco is now just a playground for the Uber-Rich. There's not much of a middle-class there anymore because of the high cost of housing. There are plenty of street people, however.
Having spent my youth in this area, I don't think it would be possible to have the kind of outdoor, neighborhood and cultural experiences that were there in the 60s and 70s. When you have the richest one-percent owning over 50% of the stuff in the world, the Bay Area is all bought up. For sure, the economics of this disparity even effects the housing market here in Spokane.
Spokane is a great place, with great people and a great future. It is truly good to be back!
When I go to work or come home from work on Sunday mornings, I sometimes like to pick a route that is usually jammed with cars on a weekday. Bicyclists own the streets on Sunday mornings. The trick is to be on the road before the church-goers (usually running late or pressured for a prime pentecostal parking place) start their engines, squeeze behind the steering wheel and careen to worship.
They are sincere in their desire to slip the surly bonds of this earthly plane, and sometimes that sincerity can't help but spill into a desire to send pedestrians or bicyclists to see Jesus in a very real, immediate and violent fashion. Maybe it's like sending an advance person. I'm sure one would be in their prayers after one became one with their mini van.
Anyhow, the streets were clear this morning. Broadway, in front of the court house, was abandoned. It's hard to think of a more emotion-packed, life-changing place as this court house. It is always interesting to be there when court is in session. The place is packed. You can see the tension, the sadness, the relief and anger on people's faces as they stream in and out of the place. This morning - nothing - just peace and sunshine.
When the street is empty of parked cars, another little story gets told. What looks like grease spots on the pavement, under each parked car's engine, is more than just a spot. The multitude of hot engines, leaking oil and other precious automobiley fluids has, over time, eroded the asphalt into evenly-spaced craters - sometimes right down to the old brick.
Cars, judgment, oil, time, destruction, habit, Sunday, church, and the indestructible brick underneath it all. Somebody wiser than me can tie this whole thing together in a nice philosophical package. As for me, I am heading out for a Fathers Day bike ride with my boys!
This is from the SRTC to help Spokane walkers. I think the results will be similar to the work being done on the bicycle end of things. If you want to make Spokane a better place to walk, please click the link above to take the 5 minute survey.
This is not a paid endorsement of Rosauers or of cereal. But, if you have big kids in your house, you need big cereal (with a big, big bite). Not enough of our reusable shopping bags for this trip, so I opted for paper, with the usual big plastic thing to protect the goods from rain. This plastic wrapper dealio makes Fun Unit Two (FU2) even more durable.
Years ago, when we bought our home, location was key. It was nice that we were close to a grocery store. Now, I think it's more than nice.
If I had a choice, I would never live farther than a comfortable walking distance from a grocery store. It's like having a pantry and deep freeze that takes up no room in your home. You can decide what you want to make for dinner every day by walking down and seeing what looks good or is on sale. I can't think of the last time I had to get in my car and drive to a grocery store. Before we moved here, a lot of time and fuel was spent "going to the store." And that's back when gas was around a buck a gallon.
When S gets off work, we walk down, talk about the day and walk back with groceries. It's a great part of the day. But for the cereal sale, you need FU2.
Took a little shakedown cruise up to Immaculate Heart Retreat Center. It's quite a different ride than the XtraCycle (which weighs close to 60 lbs). Clipless pedals are new to me as well, so there were some exciting moments along the way.
Thanks to Tomas at Two Wheel Transit for getting me all set up with this very sweet ride (Masi Speciale CX).
Now I have to hook up FUN UNIT 3 to the XtraCycle and go buy some manure and stuff.
We all headed out to Fish Lake yesterday. It was a great bike ride (about 26 miles roundtrip from the house). The weather was perfect. The picnic at Fish Lake was great in so many ways. Even ran into a friend on the lonely trail, where running into anyone is a major event.
Ike rode the XtraCycle for quite a ways. He and Aidan are both in need of new bikes. They have outgrown them, for sure. So when Ike wasn’t riding the XtraCycle, he was on my mt. bike.
My first bike was one that I couldn’t ride. My dad was in between flying jobs and was working as a cop. I think we were in Colorado. He brought home a bike from the police station that had gone unclaimed long enough that he could lay claim with good conscience.
To a 3 or 4 year-old, the bike was a colossus. The top tube loomed over my head. My dad picked me up and placed me on the seat. While he held me, I looked at the pedals below. My legs would never be long enough. The bicycle hung around for a couple of weeks and then it was gone. I don’t know if he sold it.
My first real bike was a Super Spyder 500 – a Sears Stingray, basically. It had a silver metal flake banana seat, shining chrome and a gnarly five-speed shifter. With its green flake paint, it was a beauty.
My sisters received Spyderette bicycles and my parents each received a three-speed from Santa that year too. Not bad, considering the financial straits we were in.
There were occasional family forays around the block, but mostly it was me pretending my bike was an airplane, a race car or a spaceship while tooling around the neighborhood.
Later, as a teen, when I went through flying lessons to earn my pilot’s license, I was surprised at how unlike bike riding flying is. You are pretty busy all the time, and if you’re daydreaming when you’re flying, you are probably screwing up.
Yesterday, I was doing a lot of daydreaming about my dad while riding. He always had a soft spot for bicycles. I think part of it was he really liked gadgets (yes, the apple didn’t fall far from the tree). He would never admit it, but he was an environmentalist who always drove the smallest cars he could find. He owned one of the first Honda automobiles in the US. I remember him buying it at a motorcycle dealership.
My dad was the one who introduced me to science fiction. Later in life, fueled by an unfortunate religiosity, he denounced science fiction. He had come to believe that UFOs and so many other things were “demonic.” Very sad.
Dad had come from very humble, very heartbreaking circumstances. His dad was taken away from him (due to mental illness) at a very young age, and his family remained very poor. He did a very good job as a father considering what he had.
My dad and I also shared a passion for politics. Unfortunately, later in life, we were at opposite ends of the spectrum on most issues. But, sometimes we would both surprise ourselves at having gone so far to each end, we were both in the same place.
Dad often talked of opening up a bike shop on the Newport Highway, not too far from where we lived. I would tell him that no one bicycles the Newport Highway. His response was that people would if they had a reason – his bike shop.
Dad was a veteran of the Hiawatha Trail and he enjoyed the Centennial Trail. He was always geared up to the max – spare tires, tubes, lights, cell phone, first-aid kit. He needed an XtraCycle. Too bad he never got a chance to see one.
After Dad retired from being an airline pilot, he tried selling Dahon folding bikes. I don’t think he sold any, but he really liked talking to people at trade shows and on the phone. And he bought a few to give away. He was a generous guy to very many.
He never really liked riding in traffic of any sort. I really do. But when I am riding on a trail, I can let my mind wander a bit, and I always think of my dad. I think about how much he would have enjoyed the scenery. I wonder about the advice he would dish out and what plans were in the works. We would have argued about politics for sure – proclaiming each other – CRAZY.
Mostly, I would’ve liked to ask him about the flying and bicycle thing. Isn’t riding a bicycle more like what you would have thought flying would've been like? Hoped it would be like? Carefree, fast, elegant and natural. I really don’t know how he would’ve answered.
I do know that I felt pretty close to my dad while my family and I pedaled our way to Fish Lake and back. Later in the day, we went to visit his grave like you’re supposed to do on Memorial Day. He couldn’t have been further away.
"Hello, I dropped off some stuff to be recycled and also some stuff for the tipping floor today. First, let me say what a great job your staff does. They are always friendly and helpful. But there is, as usual, one "downer" about the waste to energy plant. The dozens of bicycles that are in the appliance area, waiting to be disposed of, is an appalling sight. Some of these bicycles look almost new. The rest have salvageable parts.
With the price of gasoline being what it is, there are many folks who could use a bicycle at little or no cost. There are some organizations that are trying to help put bicycles into people's hands. One that comes to mind is Pedals 2 People in Spokane.
Is there any chance of having a recycling spot where people could drop their bikes off? It could be much like the household chemicals thing, where if someone needs a product that someone has left at the recycling table they take it. If too many bicycles stacked up in your recycling area, they could be brought into town - the West Central, East Central or Hillyard neighborhoods, where they could be put to good use.
I am sure you see a lot of good items go to waste out there, but for some reason the mound of bicycles always gets me!
Thank you!"
This picture is NOT of the bicycles, but it is rather nifty. Also, if you want to contact the waste to energy plant, here is their email: solidwaste@spokanecity.org Or click here!
Are something to see right now. The Arrowleaf Balsam Root is so much in bloom that it is almost blinding. I don't know if I have ever seen so many in bloom at the same time. I think, like us, the native flora is ready for spring - even if the weather is unrelenting.
Ironically the factory uses the same slogan "Our kids: Our business."
Can I prove this? No. But, let's face it, there are probably no pinwheel factories left in the US of A. Spokane lost its pinwheel plant back in '57.
This SR campaign really bugs me. I think it is very self-serving in that they create their own "news." Even the great Cheryl-Ann Milsap has been forced to write about the pinwheels... in the sun... with the wind.
More than anything, I know, from my job, that there are many kids whose future is quite bleak. It makes you sick and sad when you meet these children who really have the deck stacked against them.
Yet, the Spokesman-Review continues to endorse political candidates and political positions that have a direct correlation to the crappy conditions that these kids find themselves in. Instead of changing their political stance to help these kids, they give us pinwheels.
It's much like the SUV drivin' folks who voted for Bush not once, but twice, and are directly responsible for sending our kids to war. They will put a made-in-china "support the troops" magnet on their SUV and call it good.
Spokane lost its yellow ribbon magnet factory back in '73, I believe.
In other countries, do you think they placate the masses with magnets, ribbons and pinwheels as an answer to real problems, or do they act with political resolve to fix the problem?
Sorry about the political rant. I know that's not why you read this cyber-rag, but I feel better now.
Every year, I do the same thing. I tell myself - Hey, this is just the way it is. Get used to it!!
When we have a day where the temperature scratches 70 degrees, I make sure I am outside all day. More importantly, I tell myself - 70 degrees today "don't mean 'nuffin.'" Tomorrow we could have another blizzard - even if it is April, May or June. We need the rain, the snow. Owww - blue skies are hard on the eyes.
I tell myself this, but WTF? I think if these crocus (croci?) had middle fingers, they would be extended.
Sure there are others- "Ripley's Believe It or Not" type places. Trees of Mystery in Northern California. Sea Lion Caves in Oregon. The Stink Hole in Idaho. But here is a mysterious place that is easy to get to, and it's free. See where 13th Avenue intersects 13th Avenue - right where 700 West meets 700 West!
Bring a recently deceased pet to this intersection, and it may come back to life. It might take a while, though.
Last week, a slew of these school speed limit signs went up in the neighborhood. I like them. It looks like they took old poles from god-knows-what and slapped solar panels and LED flashing lights on them. They activate when the kids are going to school or coming home. The LED lights really get your attention, and seems to really slow the cars down. And they are built to last - well into the post-apocalyptical nuclear winter.
There is something very soviet about them, with a lot of steampunk overtones. It would be cool if they had big steam whistles on them that would randomly toot. Maybe that will be in the next version.
