January 14, 2023
Life with Susan, Day 4
I’m biking south, pedaling easily through a familiar desert landscape. I’ve often been here before so I don’t stop to look around at anything specific. I just bike.
My thoughts are on the afternoon ahead and the lecture I’m scheduled to give at the university when I arrive. I’m late for class, which isn’t good; but that’s not the main concern on my mind.
More worrying is that I’ve prepared nothing at all and don’t know what I’ll be presenting when I finally show up. It’s a class on bicycle travel, so I’m not that worried about this either. I’m pretty confident that I can just ad lib something and open up a discussion when I arrive, if it comes to that. It’s why I’m pedaling easily instead of rushing, really - I’m letting my mind wander, hoping inspiration will hit by the time I get there. Bicycling is good for that of course, freeing your mind to go where it will if you just give it some space.
It’s an empty, quiet setting so I’m surprised when I see another biker overtaking me, traveling not much faster than myself. When he catches up we acknowlege each other, adjust our speeds to ride abreast, and start talking. He’s a young Black man traveling on a simple bike, not carrying much gear. I ask where he’s going - to his home, in the south. Where, exactly? Benin, Africa. Where did he begin? The north.
A long journey then. He doesn’t add much more information than this, even though his English skills are quite good. Mostly he interrogates me. Why do I bicycle instead of drive? Can’t I afford a car? Is there anything I carry with me that he should travel with also? I suggest a camera and a notebook of some sort so that he can record his experiences and relive them later or share them with others. Also maybe a map.
Eventually we come to a large aquarium, an unusual finding out here in a remote desert environment. We stop together and look through the rusty steel fence that surrounds it and I take a few photos. And then we bike on.
In time we come to an even more unlikely setting and find ourselves surrounded by large, bright pink and black amorphous characters - two dimensional, rather cartoonish. They fill the entire frame with color. It occurs to me that this is all a unique experience, and something I can use to introduce today’s presentation when I finally arrive. It’s one of the wonderful things about bicycle travel - you just never know what exceptional experience will arrive next. I’ll have to be sure to include it in the day’s post also, so I can relive it later.
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So what brought all that on this morning? Do any of the drugs I’m taking induce dreams? Or is it a sign of returning health? I still have clear recollections of the fantastic dreams I experienced while laid up back in Foix recovering from food poisoning.
Anyway, that’s not how this day went at all of course. I’m still taking it easy while Rachael and Susan hit the loop again, but I’m feeeling enough better that I decide a short walk through Sweetwater won’t do any harm. I have to leave the house for an hour or two anyway because the host is putting the property up for sale and needs access to take photographs. The day begins with the three of us tidying the place up, and then after they leave on the bikes I hop in the Raven and we fly over to Sweetwater.
There are hardly any birds out at Sweetwater this morning. I see more folks slow-walking with cameras and scopes than birds, but there are a few surprises - and one I’m especially pleased to see, the first canvasback of the year. I’m not sure what he is when he first drifts around the corner and into view because his coloring is unusual, more mottled than he’d look in breeding season as I usually see them. It’s especially pleasing the way his pattern blends in with the reflections of the tall reeds surrounding the pond.
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The host Rachel and her mother are sitting on the porch when I return, waiting for the photographer to finish up inside. We chat for a few minutes, Rachel apologizes again for the interruption and gives thanks for our cooperation. She goes on to say that something has come up in her life and she needs to sell the place unexpectedly; but she doesn’t elaborate beyond that and I’m not one to pry. After that I walk a block away, find a spot to sit and wait, and check out the neighborhood birds. There are quite a few out, but nothing exceptional - just the usual house sparrows, house finches and mourning doves.
Later, we’ll get a message from Rachel thanking us again, and asking our cooperation for a few showings next week. For giving up access to the place for a few hours on three days next week she offers a twenty percent discount on our entire month-long bill, which sounds generous and like a great deal to us.
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(Rachael’s account, Susan’s photos)
While Scott was resting up, Susan and I took my favorite ride out Julian Wash and back. I was very pleased that Susan enjoyed it also. The one disappointment of the day is that despite numerous text exchanges we failed to meet up with Kelly, who was circling the loop in the opposite direction. Susan used up all her words yesterday but she does have a fine gallery of photos included below that Scott captioned for her at no extra cost. Thanks, Scott!
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Video sound track: High Five, by Yasmin Williams
Ride stats today: 42 miles, 1,200’; for the tour: 1,013 miles, 36,700’
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2023 Bird list
44. Canvasback
Today's ride: 43 miles (69 km)
Total: 1,009 miles (1,624 km)
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