Written Tuesday, October 11th
Upon hypothesis formation and experimentation, it has been determined that Boston city biking is not for Elizabeth. It was very stressful. There was traffic and more hills than I realized (and I’m not very coordinated on bikes…having a red light at the top of a hill is a very, very depressing sight). So I’m out of shape and FAR too timid to deal with Boston drivers.
I really enjoyed riding my bike when I wasn’t scared of traffic, and I’m fairly close to Reservoir, which has some bike trails, and the Emerald Necklace, so maybe I’ll brave traffic occasionally for a bike ride but not as a money-saving tactic to get to work.
I think I might still bike Sunday mornings to Sunday School when there will be less traffic and get the hang of it, then decide in spring. But not every day, especially with my laptops and the stories my coworker was telling me—she’s seen at least three times a car open their door right in front of a bike and the bike flipping over it.
Maybe I’m chickening out because I’m just not experienced and more tries equals more experience, but I DID try it…I miss Danish bike riding (though I like the bike here). So I think I’ll make my daily goal to get home safely.
Weekly Goal: Bake apple things
On Saturday, we went apple-picking, a quintessential New England fall pastime (and one that makes me wonder about leaving Boston because I love it so much…but that’s a whole different ramble). Only it wasn’t fall. Boston, being Boston, decided it felt like being in the 80s. It was a BEAUTIFUL day but so HOT.
Another new experience with Boston traffic—I drove, but it wasn’t so bad. We live right by the highway out of town so no navigating crazy downtown. Plus, I had Minerva the English GPS to help me. And the drive was gorgeous. Not really fall colors, but they were getting there and the light was hitting the leaves just right.
Because of the long weekend (Columbus Day—yes, he was a terrible person but quit whinging if you get the day off) and the weather, the orchard was packed (and the parking attendants just stood there…thanks for the help, dudes!). However, packed with small children—which is more a bonus than a retractor. There were five of us, so we bought the 20 pound bag equaling LOTS of apples for each of us. On my menu: pie (obviously), apple-raisin bran muffins, and applesauce. I’m weird because I don’t much like apples but I love things made WITH apples.
The weekend was busier than I’d planned because of the weather (we walked to Cold Stone—burning off those ice cream calories!—and met some old guy who was trying to be helpful even though I actually knew where I was going…and then started going off about how the Red Sox are sucking so he’s going to burn all his Red Sox stuff and oh yeah he has cancer. Alright.), so I didn’t do any editing. I did write on Monday, all afternoon, and I’d forgotten how exhausting it is. It sounds weird that sitting and writing all day would be tiring, but if you remember writing essays and how you’re braindead after? It’s like that, only you’re emotionally dead, too, because you’re so invested in it. And all the emotions the characters feel, you feel, too. So, contrary to popular belief, writing is not easy peasy.
Written Wednesday, October 12th
Random sidenote. I read an article that writing dates with the “th” at the end is incorrect. My friend and I then had a lengthy conversation trying to decide whether that was true or not. We decided that either way is correct, but that people tend to write October 12th like above but in a history book or something it would say 12 October 1589.
I just wanted to say that I survived my ride back and I still disliked it so I no longer think I’m chickening out. However, having lost my exercise method, I’m thinking about being completely crazy and walking to work in the mornings. It depends on my work schedule (which will determine my sleep schedule), but if I’m not jipping myself out of sleep, then I’ll wake up earlier and walk to work (it’s about an hour). Until it’s freezing, that is. Is that crazy? My back might not like it with my laptop in my backpack but otherwise, it’s a nice part of town with pretty buildings…
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