a weekend turtle

Saturday was a good day for biking. Elinor and Beatrix and I left the house in the morning with bikes and trailer to go to the local Farmer’s Market. We did a little shopping and left on foot to walk around downtown for a little while, ending up at Milton’s for brunch. We scored some seats on the patio and got to chat with several friends who happened by. After a stop at Sunflower Bike Shop for some knick-knacks we biked home to lounge a bit. It was Saturday, after all.

Through all the biking, Beatrix’s new helmet worked out great. It sometimes tipped forwards when she slouched in her trailer seat, but never covered her face, and I think she found it more comfortable to wear than the old one.

On our way home from the downtown bike trip we noticed a turtle crossing a busy road near our house so I hopped off the bike to move it before it got crushed. I have no idea what kind of turtle it was, but I think it was a plain old box turtle, in which case it was a big one. The shell alone was at least a foot long. All the turtles I ever caught near creeks as a kid were little things, maybe 5 or 6 inches at most. This guy must have been ancient.

For the afternoon, Elinor had places to be so I took Beatrix in our loaner car to visit my grandmom. Being on the far side of town already, I took the opportunity to stop at some of the big box stores in the commercial soul-sucking wasteland on the southern edge of town (we needed some curtains and they couldn’t be found downtown – we tried) and then back home for the evening.

Sunday saw us in the car again, out to my grandmom’s place once more and then out the other side of town to a park near a local lake.

Today I got back on the bike to ride in to work and Elinor and I got to ride to campus together. The weather is threatening storms at some point today, so I’m packing rain gear. I really want to find some kind of pannier I can hook to my bike to carry more sizable loads for grocery trips and books and stuff from the hardware store… So much of my time in the car, I realize now, was spent ferrying stuff from one place to another. Until I get some decent packs for the bike, I’m still forced to use the car for loads that are just slightly too large to stuff in a backpack or hang from a handlebar.