To make a long story short I was in a hurry. I called to say that I was going to be half an hour late, but hoped to shorten that. Traffic was terrible, not only was it Friday rush hour, but a holiday weekend as well. I took the left lane because an insane motorist had pulled right in front of me, it was my best option. Since the light turned red I figured this was a good time to get ahead of that truck in front of me that's heavier, starting slower. It would have been easy except the pickup truck in front of me was texting. Once I got going the other driver thought I was trying to be bad and gunned it. We had a regular drag race on main street. At 10 mph above the limit, slightly above my running speed I let him win. I really wasn't in competition.
Traffic soon worked in my favor and I pulled ahead of him. I admit there was some satisfaction there. Later I was way ahead of that guy, but had some bad timing at further lights. I can't be sure it was the same truck but I think he got in line behind me as we waited for the green arrow to turn left on Ameriplex. There's the merits of aggressive driving for you.
When I got to Electrolux, at 20 minutes past, the gate was closed. So why did I just bust my ass and endanger the general public?
Oh sacred Valley of the Beanblossom River, under the spell of a summer morning. I do like bicycle riding through the neighborhood. It's work getting back up on the ridge top, but worth it, and it gets easier. I'm still a novice rider; not ready for the Hilly Hundred yet.
Taking a break I sat on a bridge parapet and watched the water below me. The ripples released by the water bugs expand concentrically from a fixed point, even though the water itself is moving. I found that interesting.
Watching those ripples reminded me of one morning a few weeks back. I was hooking to a trailer at the Electrolux yard in the predawn darkness. There were some ducks causing a ruckus on the pond so the reflections thrown onto the trailers were complicated. At one point there was a very clear interference pattern. Light displaying the properties of a wave.
Oh, and by the way, there are fish in that pond, I've seen them.
Let's see, what else? I've told you about the alley that I have to back into off of main street in downtown Madison before. It's a sight side, thank goodness, but the hole I have to enter is insanely narrow. I noticed that I wasn't just holding up the cars, but that a pedestrian was waiting to cross the alley too, a young woman. I was going to apologize but as I came abreast of her she said, “Awesome! That takes some skill!” So I thanked her instead. You've got to take recognition where you can find it.
IU moved their fireworks display out to the fairgrounds, damn them; you can't watch from in town any more. I got invited to a private display on a farm outside Ellettsville. It seems that Brad, one of the cyclotron rats, has a fireworks license. It was the real deal, man, it was awesome. They started with some medium sized rockets while it was still light out, which was interesting, then they waited until the Ellettsville display was finished, which could be seen over the tree tops, before starting with their big ones. Boom, I love it when the ground shakes.
I guess I know where to go on the Fourth (or third) of July now. It was a great party too, with a huge potluck spread in one barn and a cash bar in another, port-a-potties and a hay-wagon shuttle back and forth to the road. To top it off I could take the back roads all the way home, except for a half mile stretch of 37. On my way home there was a ton of traffic coming the other way. Oh yeah, someone does fireworks out at Lake Lemon too, that's right. Maybe I'll check that out some year.
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