Spring or Summer may be around the corner

So I had a great weekend spent entirely outdoors and mostly on my bike. Saturday it creeped up into the high 50’s with blue bird skies, so I thought it was tank top/skirt weather. It was a little chilly on my bike for that, but an afternoon hanging out on the porch of our local brewery I basked in the sun while having a few beers. It was a big community day in Moscow. There was a bike ride / poker run to support the Latah County Trail, a Moscow Community walk which ended in East City park with food and music, and U of I had an Earth Day celebration with live music and food on campus. I participated in all plus rode around on my bike with my dogs. Sorry no pics from Saturday, I was just too busy smiling and riding around, trying hard to live in the moment.

Sunday was warmer, but was pretty cloudy so it felt chillier. That didn’t stop everyone and their mother from spending the entire weekend outdoors. It was really great to see everyone outside all in a good mood.

I decided to head back to the Couer D’alene trail, with a few changes. I switched out the puppas for bikes and my friend Em. I wish I could have brought the dogs but I didn’t know how far we’d ride and they’re not in-shape yet. It was a nice leisurely ride being that the part we biked is still all really flat (which is really rare anywhere in Idaho).

We stopped along the trail to check out this old abandoned house that has seen better days. There were several fallen trees on it as well as a creek running right underneath the house.
It was really cool to walk around the house and up on the porch. I always wonder the history of abandoned homesteads – like did a family live there, or was it just someone who lived there alone? Did they have a dog or any cats? Did the creek run under their house when they lived there? How old was this chair before the elements took it over?

So have any of you ever really looked and experienced “Cattails?” I have seen cattails for years but never really looked at them when they give off their seeds. On our walk away from the house they caught Emily’s attention and she began playing with them. I was kinda of busy fooling with my camera trying to capture the seeds flying in the wind which is nearly impossible with a point-n-shoot, when I heard her using words like magical and amazing. I then decided to pay a little closer attention and when we say magical it’s an understatement. I should have video recorded what happens when you pinch the side of the brown end tube. It sort of explodes out to a million flying seeds with tails themselves.

These pictures don’t really describe how amazingly miraculous it is to pinch off a piece and when you release the tension between your fingers the energy is released and this perfectly formed geometric shape of seeds unfolds like a blossom until it flies away. So, your call to action is the next time you see cattails when they have fuzzy sides sticking out of their normally perfect brown tube, you need to spread some seeds. You’ll be just as amazed as we were.

We rode for about 8 miles to a town called Harrison. Just before we got there, Emily and I had been riding the previous mile without sitting down. Why I don’t know, I just said hey, let’s ride the next mile without sitting. Well I rode like I always do when I’m off my seat which is peddle 3 times and coast. She rode like she was in a race, needless to say she left me in the dust. When she coasted and waited for my butt, she said ok, lets ride to that sign standing without coasting. I figured I could sprint it since I’d been lazy the first 9/10ths of the mile. Well, let’s just say I got riding pretty good and ended up off my bike, off the trail, cozying up to some thorn bushes, all while stretching my vocal cords. I just might be the first person in history to wipe-out on a flat paved trail. Well, it was the gravel off the side of the trail that made me wipe-out coupled with me slamming on my brakes. That’s a sure guarantee that you’re going to eject yourself off your bike. You can go ahead and chuckle, I sure did while lying on the ground and a bit later while washing my scrapes in the lake.

Here are few last pics taken in Harrison. It was getting late and evening was approaching with a chill so we warmed our bellies before our ride home. Oh, and I swear we were on bikes on a trail, we just failed to take any pictures of those things :)

Peace & Love to all
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A cloud does not know why it moves in just such a direction and at such speed. It feels an impulsion … this is the place to go now. But the sky knows the reasons and the patterns behind all clouds, and you will know, too, when you lift yourself high enough to see beyond the horizons.
~Richard Bach