Free Friday: have a fridge free kitchen.
Jihyun Ryou - a Korean artist about her storage solution for vegetables (by foodwastetv)
Februrary 23 is a day of birthdays and deathdays. Birthdays include my father, a middle school friend, and one of my favorite artists.
Deathday refers to the anniversary of someone’s death. This day in 2006, a young girl was killed in an auto accident because of careless, reckless, drunk driving. Today was commemorated by the culmination of a 4 day, 400 mile bicycle ride from Orlando to Tallahassee. The Geico sponsored Road Safety Bicycle Tour, hosted by the Dori Slosberg Foundation.
A friend of ours rode in the ride and this morning we rode the tandem bike out to greet and ride her into the capitol where there was a press conference to be held.
Because of mechanicals and strong headwinds. The team was still in Monticello and unable to make the press conference on time at noon. The team leader decided to drive a couple riders into town and mock ride the last 2 miles to the capitol building for show.
A large group of local cyclists were gathered and waiting at the meet-up point and from there we rode with the two escorted team members to the capitol building.
At the press conference, Rick Scott was late, but said a few words. Our friend also spoke. She held up a photo of a fellow cyclist who was killed while riding with his son. He was struck by a driver who was turned around fussing with her baby in the backseat while driving.
A lot was said about driving safely, but I feel there should have been more of a point about encouraging cycling instead of driving. Only after someone has rode the roads do they alter their driving habits if they continue to drive. Drivers who have never been on a bicycle, or have only rarely, have no idea what it is like to share the road with cars.
What is even more strange is the disparity between driving and biking. It is merely a form of transportation. We are still all human. Riding a bike is sometimes a choice, sometimes a necessity. Driving is a luxury. But with this luxury comes responsibility. Do drivers openly mock or harass pedestrians who are walking? Probably not because pedestrians have sidewalks. But not every road has a sidewalk. Not every road has a bike lane either. Maybe drivers would respect people on bikes if there were more bike lanes. Maybe not.
People are simple. Roads are for cars, sidewalks are for people. But where to bikes belong? On trails? Most trails are recreational. We want to get around town too. If we ride in the road we get harassed by cars. If we ride on the sidewalk, we are endangering pedestrians. I guess the answer is bike lanes, but the cost of creating that infrastructure everywhere is prohibitive. Or is it?
We are all taught in kindergarten to color within the lines. This rationale must apply to transportation in light of the human mind wanting to categorize and organize things in their rightful place. Things that are out of place cause tension. Bicycles on the road are in the line of cars. Bicycles on the sidewalk are in the line of pedestrians. Bicycles need their own line to safely travel within without harassment or endangerment.
The other option is for cars to have ignition breathalyzers or minimum IQ assessments, or distraction eliminators. Or for all the cars to be recycled into automated transportation pods and freedom of transportation to be limited to walking and cycling. What do you think?
Helmet sales have been low at the bike shop. Recently one of our volunteers crashed while attempting a ditch jump. He was not wearing a helmet, probably because he thinks he is too cool for helmets. Now he has scratches and scars on his face.
A lot of the helmets we have on the shelf are donated, either from the police station or brought in by volunteers/ customers when they upgrade their headcase.
We have a Hannah Montana helmet. It’s been sitting there for years:
Slightly obsessed with maps, I decided to alter the said helmet utilizing some maps I have collected.
The geometry of covering a convex surface with a sheet is tricky. To closely conform to the curve of the helmet I had to rip the map sheet into strips and layer them across the surface on a diagonal.
Taking into consideration the oncoming headwind while riding, the layering of the paper strips had to be aerodynamic as well, so as to not incur ripping of the layered sheet fins by the wind.
I started by sewing the paper map strips to the helmet, which was a unique option since the helmet was already covered in denim. Any other traditional plastic helmet would have required adhesive.
After the strips were sewn onto the helmet, I used a water-based acrylic polyurethane to coat and seal the paper map strips from water and wear.
Now the future wearer of this helmet can freely bike across the southeast without fear of getting lost. Or they can decide to mark routes they have cycled on their helmet map.
“A child stands with his father as they wait to receive blankets and winter jackets from Welthungerhilfe, a German NGO, during a snow fall at a camp for internally displaced Afghans in Kabul, Afghanistan, Feb. 20. 2012. More than 40 people, most of them children, have frozen to death in what has been Afghanistan’s coldest winter in years, an Afghan health official said. (Musadeq Sadeq/AP Photo)”
Today I went to the warehouse thrift store, another shopper started going through my cart of finds. “Excuse me.” I said calmly and politely. She embarrassingly stated very loudly that she was not stealing my items, and that she was only there to purchase coats to donate. Maybe she wanted to send my 80’s black silk jacket with gold sphere embellishments to Afghanistan.
Moody Monday: Picnic Pickin’ in the Park
When friends ask me to go on bike rides and I say “yes” excitedly, only to then remember I can’t and if I can I probably should not.
Instead we all piled in a car and drove to a park and had a lovely picnic. Guitar, kites, plaid wool blanket, take-out, small barking dog, cloud shapes. Almost as fun as a bike ride. Almost.
Solar Sunday: Solar car cover story
Happy to see Marcelo getting press. He’s still living the dream. The book is soon to be published. It will be my first words in print!
New addition to the container garden. Gifted to us by the gentleman’s mother:
a mossy terra cota pot overflowing with lovelies!
johnny jump ups (edible flowers), parsley and wee little strawberries.
On the way home from a grocery run, I spied a black trash bag out behind the local organic co-op. They are notorious for leaving large amounts of greens in unassuming containers and bags by their dumpsters. Upon inspection I found the mother-load: collards, fennel, bok choy and varied lettuces. Must have collected 10 lbs of greens. Good thing my scooter has 9 cubic gallons of storage space.
^ Collards.
^ Lettuces.
^ Fennel.
^ Bok choy.
