Up and Down

An Action-Packed Weekend: Friday’s Errands by Bike, Saturday’s Hike, and Sunday’s Contemplative Bike Ride (4/8-4/10/11)

Here’s a crazy piece of news: even though I was desperate for a change of scenery and had a marvelous time in Austin this past weekend, I didn’t take a single photo while in the city.  What is wrong with me?!?  Maybe I was too busy enjoying the good food and company.  Maybe I was self-conscious about looking like a tourist.  I was happy to be a tourist in someone else’s city, mind you, but I wanted the Austin folks to think I fit in with their cool selves.  So I carried my camera around in my purse all day and never took it out of its little pouch.  Oops!

Anyway, life has been busy in great ways lately.  Last Friday, I rode my bike to do errands in the evening.  The wind was fiercely, ridiculously strong, so I got a work-out that left my calves sore the next day.  Though I lived in the Windy City for six years, Texas is by far the windier of the two places.  Also, I was almost run over by a ten-year-old who was pedaling on his bike like a bat out of hell.  Kids these days!

On Saturday, to add to my calves’ woe, my friends and I went on a hike in Austin that had us climbing up and down the terrain in exciting, dizzying ways.  The path was filled with rocks and tree roots, so each step had to be scouted so that we didn’t fall into the ravine.  We felt so adventurous!  I was tired and sweaty afterward but also happy and deeply relaxed.  It turns out that all three of us enjoy being “in nature,” so we were like the Three Musketeers hiking up and down that trail.  It was perfect for working up our appetites for dinner, which was part of a near-perfect evening, the kind that sustains me during the long, hard days of everyday working life.

On Sunday evening, with my Austin trip now a memory and the work week looming, I was feeling contemplative and a little melancholy.  I decided to go for a bike ride after dinner, using my library books as an excuse to get out of my apartment.  I dropped them off at the book drop, then wandered aimlessly around campus for a bit, feeling lonely for Matt.  Finally, I hopped back on my bike and rode home in the semi-darkness, feeling marginally better and confident with faith that this, too, shall pass.