The First Day Of Spring (With Or Without Powdered Sugar)

Officially, Spring began at 18:45 EDT  yesterday.  And--you guessed it--snow fell.  

This morning, I went to the store.  I'd left the LeTour parked outside.  She complained that I wouldn't treat a dog that way.  I reminded her that I don't have a dog.  Well, then, your cats she retorted.

OK, so I didn't really talk to the LeTour--or, at least, it didn't talk back.  But it certainly captured the spirit of the beginning of this season:

It's interesting to see where snow collects, and doesn't:

I could just imagine some little bug finding shelter under the arch of that cable.

Cycling is sweet.  If that's the case, are our bikes confections

with or without the powdered sugar?

I know what I'm having for breakfast:  waffles, of course.  

Dead Bikes

Near my apartment is one of my favorite urban spaces:  Socrates Sculpture Park.   Lately, I've seen more cyclists riding to, and into the park.  It makes for a great rest stop, with its combination of benches, grassy areas, riverfront and, of course, the sculpture installations.


Last year, there was an installation called "Dead Bikes."   At least, that's what some of us called it; I'm not sure whether that was the official name.


This isn't the best photo, but it gives you an idea of what the exhibit looked like:

How many times have you seen bicycles stripped to their frames but still locked to a signpost or some other immovable object?  Sometimes I wonder whether how those bikes came to resemble the remains of prey.  


Some people do not bring their bikes into their living spaces.  Perhaps some of those people relocate and simply leave their bicycles. Others, perhaps, decide that they no longer want or need their bikes and simply abandon them.  


I think now of a story someone told me about a friend of a friend of his friend.  She had witnessed what turned out to be a mob execution and had to literally drop what she was doing and get on the next Greyhound bus out of town.  I wonder whether she, or someone else in a similar situation, may have a bike chained to some railing or another.  It wouldn't be long before some bike vulture would pick the carcass clean.


I have had three bicycles stolen and have returned to other bikes I parked only to find a seat, brake or other part missing.  Luckily for me, I have never found my bike stripped.  But I can't help but to wonder whether other cyclists here, or in other cities, have gone to unlock their bikes, only to find them stripped.  Have you had such an experience?