And I Shall Call Him Squisy

     I love my children, REEEEEAAAAALLLLLYYYYYYY I do.  Those words became my mantra about ten minutes after I left my house today for my commute to good old SHS.  You see, James has a drum lesson at 4:00 today, well before Amy or I will be home from our respective rehearsals.  Cue big sister Sarah who now has her driver's license and can pick up said percussionist from school, take him to his lesson and bring him home.  Complication?  This means the Connor Patriarch needs must ride to work.  Usually no worries except today there was a forecast for rather inclement weather.  "No problem," thinks same patriarchal figure, "I'll just wear my rain gear and deal with it." 

     This morning rolls around and I get everything stowed in my trunk bag (not in MY "trunk") as the sky looks cloudy but free from the wet stuff and I head off the road.  And two miles later as I hit the corner of Elwood and Pulaski the sky opens up!  I proceed to pull off, duck under a tree and put all of my rain gear on and water resistantize (I know, not a real word) my trunk bag for the ride to school (ten more miles to go!).  And the rest of the ride all I could think of was this scene from Finding Nemo:

     I proceeded to creep along slowly (about 14 mph which as you know is slow for me) as the rain was coming down in buckets.  Visibility was low and I was getting squishier by the minute.  All I wanted to do was go home but I figured I was already wet at that point so I might as well keep on pedaling.  So once again I began thinking about another scene from the same movie:

     And that's what I did.  Ducked my head down and kept on pedaling, making it (squishily) to school five minutes before the first period bell rang.  I gave my first period class a "do now" and proceeded to dry myself off and change, saving dealing with the clothes and wet bike for later periods. 
     Now along the way I also experienced that fun phenomenon I spoke of last week in which no less than three individuals in vehicles passed me with the clouds of "conflagerated hemp" emanating from the partially open windows.  This time, as I was going slower, the "aroma" lingered much longer and I was seriously afraid of the contact high.  But the rain served a purpose of tamping down the smoke so I arrived without the transcendent effects my fellow travelers were surely experiencing on this wet and slippery morning.
     This past weekend saw me immersed in various aspects of my bike sub-culture life.  It started on Friday as I made a concerted effort to try to work on some of the bikes I have for ReCycle for Sunrise.  As I've already "decommissioned" Connor's Army, I've begun to seriously cut back on that operation as well.  I've stockpiled way too many bikes in the shed and basement and it is time to just convert my inventory to rideable state and find homes for them while at the same time making some more money for Sunrise Day Camp.  So on Friday I worked on a bike to get it ready and shipshape.
     On Saturday morning I got the chance to work on the Cow Harbor 10K as part of the Northport Fire Department's Rescue Bike Squad.  It was fairly quiet as a whole and only a bandaid or two for the bike squad.  However, in my capacity as Bike Squad Coordinator I did get the chance to start reaching out to some of the other area bike squads to start working on training our squads together in order to facilitate a verisimilitude in our bike squad operations.  Hopefully by training together we can be in a better situation to support each other on days like the Cow Harbor Parade, or the various events where we can lend a hand to our neighboring departments.  Also, I had put three of the bikes for ReCycle out on the lawn and lo and behold, when I returned two of them had been sold.  I quickly fixed up another one that had already been "claimed" by a previous customer and called her to let her know she could pick it up.  By the end of the day four bikes had been sold and another person called to see if they could pick one up the following day.
     Sunday dawned and I originally thought I would go for a ride but I decidedly to forgo that in order to help set up for what would be Sarah's penultimate time selling lemonade from in front of 351 Main Street.  We have so few of these left and I wanted to make sure it was all just right for her (also one of the reasons I spent 30 minutes on Friday afternoon putting a fresh coat of paint on the front fence).  I made pancakes from scratch for the family and then headed off to the fire house to get ready for the Cow Harbor Day parade. After all, it is Cow Harbor Weekend .


     We got all the bikes set up and just as we were preparing to head up to the parade meeting site a call came in, "16/23 Motor Vehicle Accident".  I was all for heading to the parade start but since it's a "general alarm" it really DOES mean all available man power so Jordan Descovitch, Tom Smalling and I headed off up the street to see if there was anything we could do to help out.  Maybe we could serve as red and black (a great book by Stendahl, not to be confused with Stendahl Syndrome although it is named for him) fire police.  Of course, halfway up Ocean I realized I was on my own so I had to back off a bit and wait for my compatriots.  I guess all this commuting IS paying off.  But, eventually everything was taken care of, patients transported and we all headed off to the parade to serve as a mobile ambulance as 2-9-15 was on standby at the end of Main Street.

     After the parade we stood standby for a few hours and then I got the chance to meet with my family and enjoy some of the time with them.  We got to see kittens but we DIDN'T get to have our customary lobster, crab cake and fried oyster dinner as the vendor wasn't here this year.  But, all this disappointment WAS offset by the fact that the Dallas Cowboys won!!!!!!!!!  Hey, we're only 1-1 and in second place in the division but I'll take it!
     And the crowning touch of the weekend.  William's girlfriend rode her bike over and William wanted to ride her home and then ride back on his own.  Amy and I were at odds over letting him do this so I volunteered (still in my Bike Squad gear) to ride with them back and then bring William home.  And that is when I was reminded of what it means to ride your bike.  While I stayed back with her William took off.  He loves nothing more than just going fast on his ten speed.  And as I sat there watching him peel off into the distance I was reminded of myself at his age and how much I loved to just get on my bike and take off for hours exploring the byways of where I lived.  I vow he and I will do much, much more of this!!!!
     But back to today.  As I sit here writing this I'm still drying off in various places and looking out the window at the rain still pouring down.  Good thing I have rehearsal today for The Compleat Wks of Wllm Shakespeare (abridged) to keep me busy until the rain tapers off.  Okay, gotta run and do what it is they pay me to do - have the best job in the world!
     Okay, update.  As I write this portion I am at home having steadily gone further and further south as the day progressed.  I may have picked up something from the call from yesterday (one that I went on after the parade) and right now I'm not feeling well at all.  I cancelled rehearsal and headed off back home.  Thankfully it didn't rain at all on the way home but I really feel like guano!  I'm hoping I can feel better tomorrow as I have rehearsal and I have a CME class on Trauma tomorrow night.  Uggh.  I hate getting sick.  I guess I should have gotten that flu shot!!!!!! 
     But the ride home taught me to listen to myself and listen to my body.  Although I was feeling sick I also managed to enjoy the time I had - just like the ride I had yesterday with William.  That ride and this one only serve to remind me of why I started riding and what I'm trying to get back to - the freedom that my bike can bring me and the joy of just feeling the wind on my face.  Okay, I'm heading off to bed now.  But first the update;


FFR - Squirrel, groundhog (?), rabbit
RRL - Nike hat, shoe, glove, toilet seat lid


Stay well and I'll see you on the road!