Bicycle Race

I went cycling today! I'd found an old road bike in my father's garage a few days ago and tightened it up this morning. It was so good to get outside! Any kind of physical activity would probably have hit the spot by now, but this bicycle just made it perfect.

Very simply: it suits me. Though it's really sort of on the ugly side, objectively speaking, I genuinely kind of love the thing. I can dream of dresses and hillsides in old Italian movies. Pretty good.

Bigger outing on it tomorrow!

Valuska

With a Little Help From My Friends

I have internet again!

I just did a strange thing. I told my sister about my blog. I took a few minutes to decide and then I told her. And then: I looked at myself in the bathroom mirror and seriously regretted it. But now I think it will be ok again. It's like sprinkling a bit of love and trust. She will know that I use fluffy alliterations, but won't make fun of me for them. I won't be self-deprecating, but will practice better writing skills. And she will know what is going on in my life. It will be good.

If you are reading this, I love you, so very, very much.

The Star-Spangled Banner

The day before I left, the Poet wrote me an email:

I thank you. For a nice day? For a lot more. This spring, you helped me understand and change my life. This sounds terribly heavy (těžkotonážně: heavy, in an industrial sense, like a heavy-duty dump truck), but it is true – a heavy-duty truth. It’s too bad you weren’t here longer… Strasbourg, Mníšek, St. Petersburg – It was and will remain a swamp!

I believe you will do well for yourself. Don’t let anything limit or manipulate you and it will be so.

Today I am going to a starchy Fourth of July barbeque, bearing lemonade and a creamy cucumber salad. Tomorrow: yoga. The moon the day after that!