3.24.2011 Ride: Many Thanks and Acknowledgements

Sunrise. 7th floor garden area. Sol's condo.

Back home.  And, does it ever feel good to be here. The last 6 days are a blur.  There were definitely high points but the whole pace was way too frenetic.


This will be a short posting today as Rachel and I are eager to plop down in front of the TV and watch some I Love Lucy.  Carol stayed behind to help get Frnaces' finances in order among other things. Hopefully, she will be back tomorrow.

Preston, Amber & Aaron

Flying stand-by can be risky business.  Our flight today had lots of availability, so we looked to be in good shape.  However, when we arrived at the airport, the flight was delayed a half-hour.  Not a big deal, but I didn't have a good feeling.  Though, it gave me an opportunity to meet Preston who was sitting two seats down from me in the gate area.  I asked him what was the large group he was with and they turned out to be the debate team from the University of Louisville.  They were returning from a national tournament up in Binghamton, NY.  His team finished an impressive 3rd.  And, more impressively, Amber won first place in the novice division.  I really enjoyed meeting them and I talked in length with Preston.
Our departure kept getting dragged out but eventually we did leave at 1:15, 2 1/4 hours past our original scheduled time. Well, at least I would still get back in time to ride in daylight.

A beautiful day when we arrived in Fayetteville. Getting back on Southern Comfort was definitely nice but I was tired.  I was looking to take a picture that reflected how much I was glad to be home.  When we left, our daffodils were budding.  Now home, they were in full bloom.  What is especially nice about these bulbs is that they came from Carol's mom and, if I'm not mistaken, they may have even started with Carol's grandmother.

One of the things that I like where we live is that most of the yards, old pastures, are left in there natural state. Thus, even though the lawns are cut, an array of various low growing flowers bloom throughout the season.  Right now, one of my favorites are these purplish clusters that spread through the fields.  They seem to suggest a secret world among the grasses.





I have a lot of thanks to give out.
Thanks to Gus, Walter's neighbor, for letting me use his bike.
Thank you again, Walter, for schlepping the bike in your car down to Inman when you were feeling terrible.
Thanks to Jim & Teresa, Frances' neighbor across the street who do a great job of looking in on Frances and for letting me use Jim's bike.

A big thanks to Sol & Jim for the use of their condo.  That was great.

A big thank you to Joanna Brotman for her pledge. That is VERY much appreciated.

And, while I am at it, a special thanks to Carol for all she does and makes possible.  And, to David and Rachel for being such great kids.

Today's Ride: 63mins.  11.03 miles.  55 degrees.  Miles YTD:  1,510.48