November is a strange and interesting month, especially this year. It may have to do with the fact that we had a warm, wet fall before our late-October snowstorm, which seems to be the reason why the foliage (Can you call it that in Brooklyn or Queens?) has changed colors later in the season than it has in previous years. And, while the red and gold trees may not be as striking here as they are in, say, Vermont or the Adirondacks, the city's buildings can provide a nice backdrop to the leaves of sunset.
I took that photo just before starting to ride with Lakythia and Mildred to the Canarsie Pier and the South Shore of Brooklyn.
Off into the "sunset" we rode!
All right. I'm going to show you some photos I took during my ride yesterday, and I'll let you guess where I rode.
My first stop brought me here:
Here is another shot from that same stop:
A few miles later, I was struck by the lines of the tree in the foreground:
A bunch of miles later, I took a detour. Actually, I think Tosca detoured me, for she felt right at home here:
Some more miles later, I stopped to visit some friends:
They weren't far from this:
or this:
And thus did my journey end:
All right...So you want to know where I rode? Well, I'll tellya: What I just said ought to be a clue. I was in da Bronx. My detour, during which Tosca posed in front of the floral shop window, took me through the Westchester County communities of Mount Vernon and Pelham Manor.
I had planned to join Lakythia and Mildred for the Tour de Bronx, one of the few organized bike rides that's still free. I've always known that there were a surprising number of good places to ride and interesting sights in what may be New York City's most maligned borough. And, I'll admit, I wanted the opportunity to show them to Lakythia and Mildred. However, teaching evening classes has thrown off my body rythms, and I don't get up as early as I did when I was teaching day classes. So I got to the Bronx after registration had ended and the riders left. I thought I might catch up to them, but I might've made a wrong turn or two. Plus, I realized that in a large organized ride, I might not find them. So I gave up and gave into a ride that basically happened. When I'm riding alone on as beautiful a day as we had yesterday, I don't mind that.
I must say, though, that today I noticed changes in tree coloration for the first time this year. I'm not the only one who think it's happening late this year. Although trees and plants have their own internal "clocks", at least one person who's knowledgeable about such things has suggested that that the relatively warm and very wet season we've had might've wreaked havoc with the trees' timing.
In any event, it was a fine ride, but it would have been better with Lakythia and Millie. Does this mean I should return to teaching day classes?
