How biking changes things

Day camps are now done for the summer and we can settle into August, with some down time and enjoy summer with far fewer schedules.   Pete has his summer soccer tournament on Monday at Kreager Park, about 5 miles east of us.  He and I rode our bikes out there today to give it a dry run.  Teams from all the parks will come together and play each other on Monday.  The ride out was totally uneventful except for the puddle portage about half way out.  It rained yesterday and last night. A lot .  I was concerned that the greenway might be closed along the river, but it was fine.   In one spot, the water had pooled over the greenway for about 40 feet.  The pavement was under enough water that you couldn't see the asphalt. There was room to the left of the path to walk the bikes through some really slimy mud, so Pete and I chose to do that instead of riding through the puddle.  Pete started through the mud and I passed him his bike.  He walked it about half way down the length of the puddle and I followed with my bike.   About half down the puddle I stood my bike against a tree, and finished walking Pete's through some overgrowth and then passed it back to him on the pavement.  I went back to get mine and slipped in the mud. Landed right on my fanny. You just knew that one was coming! Bikes safely back on the pavement, we finished our trip to the park.  Took 45 minutes exactly.  Then there was plenty of  time to just play at the playground.

Kreager Park has a playground called Taylor's Dream that was build to be accessible to all kids.  It was getting full use this evening!   Rather than go back through the puddle, Pete and I decided to go home a slightly different route.  We stopped at the grocery store.  Of course I got a bit more than I had planned to and ended up with two grocery bag hanging off my handle bars but it worked out just fine and we got home uneventfully.  The round trip was about 14 miles.

Pete has turned into such an excellent biking companion this summer.  It has been so much fun watching him gain confidence on his bike and in his traffic skills.  He is also getting such a good grasp of his city by bike.  We have ridden across much of the south side between soccer and Lifetime Sports Academy. He's ridden through the northern suburban areas going to Solomon Farm.  There are still miles and miles of  Fort Wayne we have yet to explore, but our adventures this summer have been beyond what I would have imagined even this spring as Pete's riding skills have evolved.

Going by bike has changed other areas of my life too.  As I cleaned up and rearranged somethings in the kitchen this past week, I realized that I can get by with less storage in the kitchen because of how my grocery shopping habits have changed.  I don't stock up on huge quantities anymore. I shop for smaller amounts and more frequently, so my cupboards are generally enough to hold what I have on hand.  It weird, but nice to feel like my 80+ year old house and I might finally fit a mutual lifestyle.  It was designed in another era.  I have tried to make it into a house of this era.   Maybe our biking lifestyle has finally brought us into closer harmony with what the house was originally designed to do!

I'll have to cogitate on that idea for a while and maybe it will work itself into a future blog entry.