Why I'm Waddling

At 8:31 this morning, I climbed onto my bicycle in the backyard. At 9:31, I got off my bicycle in the sand at Oka Beach.

I walked a bit, sat a bit and thought a bit. I worked at Parc Paul Sauvé beach for five summers as a lifeguard. In that time, I grew a lot physically, socially and politically. I met great people and collected interesting and sometimes intense, experiences. We worked, trained and partied together. Two summers in a row, we swam across Lac des Deux Montagnes. I remember being pretty wobbly when I got out of the water on the other side!

With the sun shining brightly and a fall chill in the air, it's a fine day for a bike ride. It's been a nice and welcome long weekend. Susan made a huge and delicious Thanksgiving turkey dinner last night. I
know I have much to be thankful for; not only that Susan and Tristan are part of my life, but that they're healthy; that we're all healthy!

As I pedalled into the park limits, I noticed this sign. Evidently, the creation of the powerful salamander lobby has paid off!



I had recently pedalled to the park limits a number of times, but it had been a while since I'd pedalled the extra kilometres into the park and to the shore. There are new sections of the bike path that cut right through the dense forest. In many places, the path is blanketed by a dense coat of fallen pine needles.

There were geese on the water and others constantly flying in for the convention.

The only sound I could hear, during lulls in the honking, was falling leaves lightly tapping the sand around me.

It took me an hour to ride back home, which is surprising considering the awful yearning I had developed for padded bike shorts! I own a couple of pairs, I just hadn't considered wearing them. They were sorely missed.

My next assignment of the day involves a trip to the store. Tristan wanted me to buy a new driving video game that's coming out today. I refused and then, thinking it was a pretty safe bet, I agreed to pay for the game if he convinced Susan to finish a race on the game demo. She adamantly refuses to play video games except, as it turns out, when there's the opportunity to stiff me, humiliate me, crush me, have me eat crow, or take me to the cleaners; then, by all means, hand her the controller, there are exceptions to be made!

I'm still thankful, as off I waddle.