A tale of two weathers

This morning, 8.00 a.m. Street lights still on, rain lashing down, and a gale blowing. The orange leaves of the beech hedge are blurry with movement. With my wee camera the murkiness of the day doesn't come across, but it was dreary.
Same day, early afternoon. The gale is still blowing, but the clouds have lifted to reveal blue skies. Down in Princes Street gardens the ice rink is being test-skated by a skating club. They're executing pirouttes and dance moves which are definitely beyond the reach of the office parties and once-a-year skaters who will follow.

Swanson - River City Shoot-out

Today was a great day for a bike race! Awesome weather.
This was the first race of the season (Race #1 of the series was postponed into June.) Some 155 riders took to the trail at Swanson Park. There was some confusion with the new categories but the organizers and USA Cycling officials worked everything out.
Special Thanks to Edge Physical Therapy for supplying the grub. It seemed that the hungry racers appreciated the food. I know that this photographer did!
I ended up shooting over 450 photos at the race. You can see my photos at http://win-photo.photoreflect.com. There are 4 groups of photos. The first group is general shots. Group 2 of 4 is the start of the Marathon, Category 3, and Juniors. Group 3 of 4 is the always popular Kid's Race. Group 4 of 4 is the Category 1, Category 2, and rest of the Marathon.

Fog City?

San Francisco and the Bay Bridge on a particularly sunny January day.

Madeleine L'Engle

I just finished reading The Summer of the Great-Grandmother by Madeleine L-Engle. It is a poignant true story of the last summer spent with her mother before her death.
She looks back on her childhood and growing up years as an only child of parents who were very cosmopolitan and well-travelled. She laments the fact that she can no longer communicate with her mother as she once did while having morning-long talks over coffee at the kitchen table.
She has to come to terms with the fact that after her mother's death, she's now the 'matriarch' of the family clan; a role she doesn't want but has to accept.
Here's a quote from the book about one thing that formed who she became as an adult. "School was mostly something to be endured; I don't think I learned nearly as much from my formal education as from the books I read instead of doing homework, the daydreams which took me on exciting adventures in which I was intrepid and fearless and graceful, the stories Mother told me, and the stories I wrote. It was in my solitudes that I had a hand in the making of the present Madeleine."
I agree with her, because that is also my experience. I've learned so much more out of school than in. Only in solitude can I work out solutions to problems, think in peace, and be creative.
If you've never read any of her books, I highly recommend them. She's probably best known for A Wrinkle in Time. I prefer her non-fiction. She was also a writer of spiritual books. In the above mentioned book, she was struggling with who God is and traditional religion, but later on she became much stronger in her faith.
*The lady in the photo isn't Madeleine L'Engle, she's an ancestor of mine, Lydia Walker.

North Side Tour

Have been a little back in my blogging. Maybe I can catch up this morning.
After the frustrations dealing with the dealership last Thursday morning, I needed a bike ride. In the afternoon, I parked downtown CB and stopped at the bike shop. Had a particular reason to stop at the bike shop - drop off some calendars.
Decided to check out the trails on the North side of town. Rode city streets up to the Sheriff's Dept. The road to Big Lake is still barricaded (as of Thursday - see photo). Water is basically under the railroad and I could see lots of clean-up activity in the park. I would not be surprised to see that Big Lake Park open now or very soon.
As I rode Iowa Riverfront Trail, I realized that some of the pumps have been shut down. The river level is continuing to drop. Standing water along the golf course is receding (tells me that they are slowly getting the ground water level under control).
Survey stake all along the level. Some makings on the pavement - looks like sections that will be replaced. Some sections have been almost destroyed by trucks and equipment driving on the levee during the flood.

Shot the lower photo here overlooking the lower level of Harrah's parking garage. From what I could see it looks like the water is nearly gone in the lower level. They have lots of cleaning up to do, clearing all the water silt, but perhaps they may soon open the section of the bicycle trail there.
On the way back, I looked at the area South the the Bob Bridge where the CB was building the new park/green space between the levee and the river. The area looks like coastal tidal flats.
Lots of devastation along the river. Much of the island between the river and chute is gone (maybe more will be visible after the river level gets down to normal). Many trees have died and are dying from toppling in the storms and high water.

Cat puzzle

A purrfect fit? (Sorry, can't seem to stop myself when it comes to bad puns.) In a change from the normal procedure, George has crawled on top of Ginger in this picture.

Council Bluffs Riverfront

This week work started on the Council Bluffs Riverfront - Phase 1. This section is just South of the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge. Click HERE to see the plan.
Trees being cleared between the Iowa Riverfront Trail and river. for the new green space. On the other side of the trail construction is continuing.
My ride started from the Western Historic Trails Center. Rode to the pedestrian and over to the middle of the bridge. Took a few photos there. Then road on up to N. 25th St.
Stopped at the construction area again to take more photos. While just about ready to head back to the trail center, was hailed by Mike - a guy met on the trail Sunday. He was on his bike (thinking its his first bike ride of the year). Nice chat there.
On the way back home stopped again at Xtreme Wheels. Became a busy day at the shop. Almost like "old home day". Randy (and tribe) and Andrew were there. Few others I don't know remember (I hate it when that happens).