No News is Good News

Oceanside, OR...breezy, chilly; beaches, vineyards and seaside towns; waking up to the surf with ten of my best friends in the world...

we old ladies can party when we're away from our trappings

-OB surprisingly OK without the bicycle

A Woman Without a Bicycle

...is like a fish without.................wait.

A bicycle without a woman is like a............um.

A fish without a man is like a bicycle without.......#%@!!

A man? bicyc.... A bicycle without a woman is....A woman..........crap.

- OB not thinkin' straight

The Trip Begins....

Gotta love public transit. The bus picked me up a block from home, deposited me and my rolling bag downtown on the Mall, and I hopped the light rail to the airport...no cajoling friends into hauling me, no $$ for leaving my car at the airport for the week. Once in Portland I followed the same routine to my sister's place...lots of bicycle commuters on Portland's MAX line.

Farmer's Market on Nicollet Mall, downtown Mpls.

Hiawatha Light Rail dropoff deep in the bowels of Mpls./St. Paul Airport

City Center, downtown Portland, OR -- MAX rail dropoff

- OB

twoWEEKSawayfromtheBICYCLE

What was I thinking?

What was I t h i n k i n g ?

Was I thinking?

Thinking I what was?

What ever thought was IT?
and who acted upon it?

- tob is anyone around here using her brain?!?

Oh MAN!

Out of the frying pan and into
the other
frying pan

I'm leaving for the west coast tomorrow...off to visit my beloved sister in Portland, OR, for five days yes, she's related to me, can ya believe it?? then off to the coast and Oceanside, OR, for a week with my beloved girlfriends, some of whom I've known since I've been six years old...ten of us sans kids, husbands, boyfriends, and work for an entire week. After being spread throughout the country for the past 20+ years, we took our first trip together during the summer we all turned 40 and decided it needed to happen every five years. So here we are, celebrating turning 45...for some of us our 39th year of knowing each other...a rare phenomenon.

My plan is to travel light -- one bag, travel clothes, hiking boots and They that Dwell in the Underworld there appears to be something missing....

...I'm leaving my wonderful travel bicycle at home.

WHY AM I LEAVING MY WONDERFUL TRAVEL BICYCLE AT HOME?!!??

Packing ten of us into two vehicles departing Portland, then into a house means space is at a premium...

AND

since I'm not taking my planned mountainous bicycle trip this summer I don't need to stay in cycling shape...

AND

given our last trip together, lazy days spent reconnecting are what this trip is about -- that can't as easily be done if I'm off on the bike missing the ritual of making breakfast, hanging out with coffee and deciding what to do for the day...and then doing it...

have I convinced myself yet???

So, why the frying pan?

After the week we've had here in midwest, I was so looking forward to Portland's typical 80-degree July temps, but...

I'm
not
even
believing
this.

Oceanside, however, is predicted to have its normal July highs in the lower-to-mid 70s while we're there...whew!

- O still a hottie B

Hotku

I'm hoping C.P. over at Tatterdemalion in neaby Iowa won't mind that I've posted his take on haiku there's baiku-bicycling haiku...raiku-running haiku...now there's hotku! posted in response to my Saturday entry:

Hotku
by C.P.
Bike covered in sweat,
As are my fave running shoes,
Hot, too stinking hot!

- bo (!) that was a typo, but it seems surprisingly appropriate....

Could it Be...

It's tough for Betty and I on days like this -- she's willing, but I deal with some serious overheating tendencies you'd think the lack-of a pitted-out T-Shirt could be a good thing -- and while Prudence still comes out now and again for the grocery or downtown run, Stella is content to hang-out in the stable in anticipation of those cool fall days.

So

I've taken out the running shoes...

...THE RUNNING SHOES...

running shoes, the

shoes I use to run,

those things
that
I use to do that one thing.

Betty...Stella...Prudence.... Bicycles deserve names. Naming grants personality, insight, attachment. We personify those items in our lives which intensify our experiences as if somehow they knowingly contribute.

In that case, my running shoes are now named They That Dwell in the Underworld and Heap Misery Upon She That Must Run...but there's gotta be a more concise term....

- TOB wishing MN would indeed freeze over

Dew Point

Def: the temperature at which air becomes saturated and produces dew.

Yesterday's Stats
High Temp -- 93 °F
Dew Point -- 70 °F
Average Humidity -- 71% (high 87%, low 59%)

Today is predicted to be near 90 with the dew point hovering around 60...remaining hot and muggy throughout most of the week, with temps

gradually
drop
p
i
n
g
in
to
the
mid-80s

Hoh baby!

I've taken to the running shoes since the workout is quick and agonizing, so I KNOW it's working.

- OB *sigh*

Saturday's Highs

Max Temperature -- 99 °F/37 °C

Dew Point -- 63 °F/17 °C
Average Humidity -- 55
Maximum Humidity -- 87

Wind Speed -- 4 mph/11 km/h
Max Wind Speed -- 17 mph/28 km/h
Max Gust Speed -- 28 mph/44 km/h

- TOB ack poo

The Flipside

So whad'ya do when it's just too hot?

5:45 AM: 69 degrees, 60% humidity
mmmmmmphfffggllluuhh WHA? mggrrrffff radio?

6:20 AM: 71 degrees, 64% humidity
...the radio....the phone?...who-the--

6:40 AM: 71 degrees, 64% humidity
Roll out to meet up with Sweetie on his morning commute it's 6: flippin'40! ...but I can nap later...and the early AM exercise will jump-start my day.

9:42 AM: 77 degrees, 70% humidity
Shower in the basement. Coolest place in the house. Mental checklist: organize basement since it's too hot to be doing anything outside today and I did jump-start my day. All sorts of energy. Big energy. Lots-o energy. E N E R G Y Coffee. Sit down at the computer upstairs. Why am I not blogging these days? I have a Sweetie and life as I know it is over?? Start blog entry.

12:14 PM: 87 degrees, 56% humidity...heat index 95 degrees
Still at the computer. Online shopping. Photoshop-ing. Iced coffee. Put together fan purchased yesterday these half-story post WWII houses are cute, but come on -- ONE vent upstairs??

12:40 PM: 93 degrees, 50% humidity...heat index 101 degrees
Heat Index (HI) = the temperature the body feels when heat and humidity are combined...kind of like windchill when it's -12 blasted #%@!! degrees in the winter...only not... in that the effect on one's activity level is similar...

but I've got e n e r g y

...sure glad I jump started my day mmphfggluuhhh zzz z z....

3:04 PM: 91 degrees, 48% humidity...heat index 92 degrees
I'M AWAKE! Awake. Looks like we avoided the 97 degree predicted high. Whew. Basement. It's on the list.


- OB

Summer

not 'bout bicycling

putzing in the yard
diving into closets
vacationing
coming home
getting ready to go again
...while bicycling frames my life
summer is about the diversion

-OB balance, balance, balance

No MOre!

The week-long training was good, but...

nope can't

no more

not gonna

too much

overload

need time

think about

escape

outside

sunshine

warm breeze

clear head

element

b r e a t h e

- TOB supposed to be ridin' through my SUMMER, here