Monday Musette

Why don't you tell me 'bout the mystery dance?

Before yesterday's Mother's Day festivities, I went out and cut the grass in our front yard. Then I ran the weed eater and cut up some brush for the yard waste can. My son mysteriously disappeared. Imagine that. But being a considerate father and all, I saved the worst part of the mowing – the back yard – just for him. Part of it has a steep slope. My knee was already hurting from waltzing the mower around the front yard. It would have been extremely painful if I'd done the back too. For some odd reason, I found myself humming “Waltzing the Mower” which is just like the Australian “Waltzing Matilda”. I could have been singing it, but then again, the neighbors think I'm a little nutty already. Dunno why.

I spent some time in the garage, working on a bike for the Community Development office and re=taping the handlebars on the Bianchi. The new tape is Celeste! It looks very nice with the dark green frame and its Celeste decals. I'll post some photos.

I was on my feet most of the afternoon, cooking hot wings, making bread, and cleaning up the kitchen. We used the 'good' porcelain china rather than the everyday stoneware with all its chips and scars. I almost wrote 'melmac' but I was afraid I'm the only one old enough to remember that stuff. I bought this porcelain for Mary years ago. She wanted white dishes with gold rims. Naturally, the ones I found weren't dishwasher safe, so I made a pledge to wash them whenever we used them. That means that I get to do dishes after special family meals. I really don't see this as a chore. It's just another way of saying, “I love you.” Doing dishes added to the discomfort in my knee. It wasn't truly painful by then, just tender and sore. I could feel some swelling.

This morning, I rolled the Bianchi out of the garage and promised that I'd ride only in the middle ring. My legs were stiff and clunky. I actually felt awkward on the bike because the pedaling motion just wasn't smooth. That went away after the first couple of miles and by the time I started climbing out of the Bird Creek valley, I was feeling normal again. I hoped that no other commuters caught up to me along the way because I was embarrassingly slow. But I stuck to the pledge and remained in the middle ring.

It helped. The knee has been remarkably cooperative this morning and my legs feel good, not heavy and stiff. The real test will be going home this afternoon with a tail wind. I may not be able to resist trying to go fast, but with temperatures expected to reach 90F (32C), I may not want to work hard for long.

Travel plans

I'll be flying to Pittsburgh soon to bring my mother-in-law out to Oklahoma. She's in a bad situation there and I know she'll be better off living with us. It'll certainly be better for her, but I'm not entirely certain it will be better for me. I like my in-laws in small doses. Mom is a good-hearted woman but she likes to micro-manage. I suspect that once she settles in, she'll have long list of things that I should do. It's just how she is. And I expect that my way of dealing with it will be to go on longer rides. So there is an upside!

Bike To Work

The Indian Nations Council of Governments (INCOG) is hosting the Tulsa Bike To Work event on Wednesday from 7AM to 8:30AM at the Blue Dome Diner, 313 Second Street. I'm thinking about taking a vacation day in order to attend. There's something very perverse in that thought.