Ambition: it can knock you down flat, right? Why or why would anyone my age choose to ambitiously bike over to Belleville Wisconsin when they live on the farmette and they're 70 years old? Well, here are a few reasons:
1. It's the second day of Second Summer. A gorgeous day with plenty of sunshine and with that feeling of lightness that comes when the sun is your friend. Perfect for biking!
2. As I said, I'm leaving tomorrow and a longer bike ride will give me a chance to spend the day entirely with Ed, doing what we love doing together -- exploring the places around us. Within driving or, in this case, biking distance. Sort of.
3. Our winter CSA farmers -- Sung Haven Farm, located outside Belleville -- are hosting a fundraiser to create opportunities for kids with disabilities to come and visit the farm. We cannot say no to that!
4. And of course, it would be cool to visit their farm and see where all our winter spinach comes from.
5. It's good to vary your biking routes a little. Or a lot. I admit, this is a lot of variation. With hills, which bother me less on the electric bike, but still, they require effort. Which is good for me, no?
With all this in mind, I walk over to feed the animals...
We eat breakfast...
And we set out.
And it is a pretty ride. After the initial hills to get us to the bike trail, we stay on a fairly flat run, until we have to veer off on the rural roads again. And then we have more hills. But hey, all this will make us stronger if it wont kill us first! (Do note that it did not kill us.)
At Snug Haven, Bill (who, along with his wife farm the land here) had told me to take the path up to the top of the hill before we come down to where the veggie growing and partying and eating is taking place. For the view. And it is some incredible view. I cant think of a better one in our county!
And then we go down, for the food, the drinks -- donations by Madison's best meat purveyors, salad makers and fruit bar bakers...
And I make a silent auction bid on a coffee table (wait, what?! a new piece of furniture?? I will explain...), and then we walk over to see the hoops that give us such wonderful spinach and carrots and green leaf veggies all winter long...
And now it's time to bike home. The energy levels are always lower on the return, but we do it! In total it's only 1.5 hours of pedaling each way (Snug Haven Farm is just 20 miles southwest of our farmette), but even one way is more than we usually do in a day.
Still, as we bike side by side, I tell Ed that nothing that I will do in the next week will give me more fun than I've had today. Sure, there will be other benefits. Aplenty. But this day ranks high on the glorious meter!
So now, what about this coffee table (which I unfortunately do not get)? And what happened to the used couch bid we put in last night? Well, not surprisingly, the couch owners ignored our low ball offer ($200 and they were asking for $350). Ed was unconcerned. We'll find another. Here's where I put in a plea: how about an Elm Lawn new one for just under $1000? I knew he'd not go for it. But he softened just a bit. He looked up the couch we'd placed a bid on, found it on Amazon and, too, found that we could buy a "damaged box" one for less than the people were asking for the used one! Ed does like a deal.
He tells me -- let's sit on it for a while, even as he knows I wont sit on it. I am terrible at sitting on anything. And so we buy it. To be delivered next week, with whatever damage there is. I mean, maybe it will be unnoticeable damage, right?
And since we are improving our living space, I told him that it's high time I got rid of the end table on wheels which is goofy and wobbly. Hence the bid on the lovely cherry wood table. Which I did not get. (I'll keep looking!)
I cook dinner then. For the young family. It's all the more lovely to see them because I'm heading out and so our routines -- with the kids, with clocking in with the parents -- will be disrupted for a while. That's always the downside of leaving. You leave your sweet beloveds behind. But not today! Today we feast!
(After dinner, Ed puts away the hens and feeds the cats -- a chore that Snowdrop has always loved to help with. I think Sandpiper pretty soon will join them in this!)
(Done!)
And then I clean up and snuggle on the couch with Ed and I'm thinking -- I should pack now. Surely I should pack now. But it's too good just to sit and watch a show with him. Munch a square of Toblerone. Exhale. Tomorrow: I'll throw a few things into my carryon and take off. Tomorrow!
