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Spinning
For no particular reason, I was thinking about the things that I do poorly the other day. (You may be reading this and thinking about the same thing.) Last night I got on my bike and everything got a whole lot better. I’ve missed bicycling. I’ve never tried meditation, but I wonder if my bike has a similar effect (on me).
I hop on my bike, start peddling, and for long stretches I lose track of time. The sounds of cycling can be as soothing to me as a mother’s heartbeat to her child: the greased whir of the chain following it’s serpentine path, the low pitched hiss of the tires speeding along smooth asphalt – surging a little with each revolution of the pedals, the sound of the air’s gentle resistance as you push it out of the way. My mind is freed by these sounds. On my bike, my mind is free to sort through the all the junk that’s hastily collected during the day.
I suppose it’s not exactly like meditation, not that I have any idea what I’m talking about. My pop-culture knowledge of meditation suggests it’s more of a mind clearing exercise; whereas when I get on my bike it doesn’t empty, it kind of free associates. I don’t actively think about my day, it just kind of falls together. You may be reading this and saying to yourself that a lot of the parts must be fitting together poorly, and I’ll grant you that. But to me, everything seems to fit better after I’ve abused my pedals for a while. Hell, even my typing seems better afterwards.
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Purple Belt
Beth is a champ.
She missed her opportunity to test with the rest of her group last week in Tae Kwon Do, so we sprung for the private test. In my mind, the “private” test is a bit misleading. When you test with the group, you do the form as a group. When you take a “private” test, you do it by yourself; but you’re still doing it in front of the entire class (just not in front of all the parents).
Beth, the budding perfectionist that she is, insists the private test is easier, because “you don’t have a bunch of slow people falling behind to mess you up.”
Me, I’d be terrified doing it alone. I’m a herd animal all the way.
I have no idea how I’ve raised such a confident girl.
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Fall first
This evening was the first time in nine months (or there ’bouts) that our climate control system decided it was cold enough to turn on the heat. (Can I just add that we love our heat-pump?)
Oooo I’m so excited!
No, really.