Yes, it’s still me…but I’m on a bit of a summer break here. Doesn’t that picture just make you want to dive right in? Since we are in the heat of summer here in the mid west, I wanted a tropical, ocean picture. This is about as close as I could get with wordpress options. And…since I have never been to a tropical, ocean place to take a picture, I just have to make do with what I have.

But, I can still dream. So come along with me for a few seconds and dream too…

You wake on the cool cotton sheets, the ocean breeze tickling the long strips of transparent cloth at the veranda doors. The salt-tinged air awakes your senses as you focus on the slow paddle of the fan above your bed. You slip from the soft comfort of your sleep and pad softly to the doors, pushing them aside to greet the bright, new day. Below your veranda awaits the turqoise blue of the water, lapping at the smooth rocks below.

That’s what I think of when I see this picture and for the summer at least that is a nice dream. So, let me know what you think, and I’ll try to get back here more often to update on my summer!

I was just looking at my header picture and thinking again how much I love it. It is so peaceful to me. It also reminds me of cool, fall mornings walking to school in upstate New York. There was usually a mist or even fog starting around the end of August and the leaves would be turning and drifting to the wet ground. The air smelled of dirt and rotting things from the long summer. (That doesn’t sound very romantic, does it? LOL) But that is the smell I get in my head when I look at that picture.

It is amazing how our sense of smell will trigger certain memories. Whenever I smell a tiny baby’s hair, I remember the births of my children and all the cuddle time. Whenever I smell certain spices like coriander, dill weed,  I think of my grandparent’s blue and cream-colored kitchen in Denver, Colorado. I know that is why I love blue and white in a kitchen now! The smell of tomato plants always make me think of summer and working in the garden. Usaully because I end up breaking one off while weeding!

Well,  on to the purpose of this post and hence the title!

I used to love riding my bike. My brother and I had a newspaper delivery before our teen years and we rode our bikes everyday doing that. Up and down the steep hills behind our house in Longmont, Colorado. Dogs chasing us…

Well, about five years ago, I was with my sister and brother on Cape Cod. Everyone wanted to ride bikes on the trail that starts about 20+ miles up and heads to Provincetown on the very tip of Cape Cod. The trails are wonderful and very well kept. Everyone had brought their bikes except me…I didn’t have one and they wanted to rent me one. So, I was to try out my brother’s bike to see how I would do since it had been about 20 years since I had ridden.  My brother is now 6′6″, so his bike is pretty big. That was the very first mistake. I got on it, tried to balance without falling on that treacherous bar that men’s bikes have. I think I made one rotation of the pedal before I felt myself going down. I hit hard on my hands and knees, trying not to fall on my head. My brother ran over trying to find out what had happened in the space of about 30 seconds.

That was our first day on the Cape, and I spent it hobbling around the flee market we went to, my knee twice the size it should be and oozing everytime I bent it. Needless to say I wasn’t in any hurry to ride a bike again!

Our second oldest bought a very nice Eddie Bauer bike at the thrift store for $10 just before she left for New York. This bike is in brand new condition! So, she left it here for me to use during the summer and then we are taking it to her in August so she can have it at Bible college. My husband loves to ride as well as our children. That is something they do together every weekend just about while I stay at home, (happily I might add). My husband wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer, so he got me on that bike, with me whining about falling off again and killing myself this time!

But, you know, I DIDN’T! I did so well on that practice run that we took all the bikes out to the Lake and we rode for two miles. I was pretty thrilled. I even made it up a hill that our son had to get out and walk on! You go, mommy!! It was a wonderful feeling to be on that bike again after 25+ years! The wind in my hair, the free feeling, the blisters in areas they shouldn’t be! That’s all I could take. I wanted to be able to walk when I got off. But, I’m back in the saddle again and really looking forward to some riding this summer. My husband used to do about 30 miles at a time, so that will take me some time to get up too…probably never.

But, I’ll wave as I whiz past. Just don’t distract me for too long. I don’t want to crash into a mailbox or flip into a ditch!

That’s what I’ve been thinking the past few days. I was so excited to have most of my garden in…and now it is covered with plastic because we’ve had freezing temperatures the last few days. It is supposed to be in the teens tonight and tomorrow night! I hope that lettuce that was coming up is happy with it’s plastic blanket.

So, that’s the weather here in the midwest. But, this won’t last long and soon it will be sweating weather and we’ll all be wishing for cooler weather. Us fickle humans!

Really this isn’t too bad. When we lived in upstate New York, we had weather like this the first part of May, and you could have some pretty cool days into June. And of course the days were always kind of cloudy and dreary. You don’t have to worry about that too much here.

But, I do have my plants potted for the front and back steps. They are just being kept cozy in our bedroom…the safest place from the two cats. For some strange reason they want to dig in the dirt.

I do wish you all a Blessed Easter as we celebrate the resurrection of our Savior.