the intentions were good. to embark on a bike ride to a relative’s house. get some exercise, not waste gasoline, and spend time with someone who rarely gets visitors.
the boy looked up the address and planned the route for the ride. this should have signaled bad things to come because this was my hometown. why was he in charge of directions? i already knew how to get around; i just didn’t know that specific address. (street names were never my forte.)
it already seemed like forever that we had been out on this endeavor when the rain came down suddenly and with force. we were in an unfamiliar wooded area that began flooding quickly. some cyclocross maneuvers had to be busted out—throwing our bikes over puddles-turned-ponds, jumping through downed branches, failing to see how deep the water was getting as the skies transitioned to a purply blackness never witnessed before.
turning my head at one point, i noticed we were not alone in the midst of mother nature’s madness. a few marines-in-training were soldiering along, if you will, off to our right. their commander yelling out drills in the height of the storm seemed ridiculous to this bystander. but what do i know? i’m not a marine, nor do i wish to be. though admittedly, being caught in the monsoon-like conditions a long way from home was equally ridiculous.
our next obstacle was an all-metal stairwell. there was no way around it. it was decent shelter from the rain, but certainly not the intense lighthing. a metal awning encased the stairs themselves, at least protecting us from further drenchings. but then there was the weird cage at the top of the staircase. it resembled a birdcage, with bars on all sides. the top of the cage had a circular opening, revealing the storm’s increasing anger. i was halfway up the stairs already, with bike in tow, when i looked up to see thunderheads dancing, swirling, emitting bolts of electricity.
surely, i assessed the scene as dangerous being sandwiched in an entirely metal tube, but not before i reached into my bag to fish out my camera. the imagery above was too good not to capture in digital form for later publication on the internets. if naz was shouting profanities at my stupidity at this moment, i was unaware. i needed that photograph, though i never gave thought to my camera’s reliability. the shutter was clicking, and the flash was going off. hopefully my memory card wasn’t too deluged with water that it would transfer files ok later at home. if we got home.
after naz and i finally ascended to the platform beneath the birdcage, everything was electrified. streams of current could be seen bouncing between three coffee cans. i kicked them off the side, felt a wave of heat beneath my feet, then noticed my bike no longer had a seat. fortunately, naz had picked it up somewhere along the way and offered to put it back on for me.
me: “so, how much further?”
naz: “her house is over by wal-mart.”
me: “BY WAL-MART? do you know how much further that is? you have no idea where we are!!”
i don’t remember ever making it to my relative’s house. the next thing i can remember is seeing my sister sitting on the couch with her ex-boyfriend at my parents’ house. he was rambling on about his time in north korea.
sissy: “how was your ride?”
me: “did you know that her house was over by wal-mart and we got stuck in some woods during the storm?”
sissy: “awww, man. you would have had to travel down that one road for at least two miles with no bike lanes.”
me: “yeah, tell me about it.” i looked over at naz, completely fatigued and exasperated with the day’s events.
just then, my eyes half-opened to see shaun’s face in mine, patiently waiting for me to get out of bed.
27 April 2008
i feel like i’ve written about my contribution to being green already, but after scouring my archives, i suppose i haven’t. perhaps i’ve confused myself with 1) the billions of words already written on the subject or 2) my own self-proclaimed fascination with an apocalyptic demise and the fate of mankind that may or may not actually relate to environmental awareness.
thanks to wire and twine, i found this pretty comprehensive list of things one can do. and i’m happy to announce that me and the boy are pretty above average on most everything.
- biking. we do it. nearly every. damn. day. and if we don’t, we ride public transport or carpool with those who have cars.
- recycle. though, admittedly, we use our neighbors’ blue bins. our landlady is a bit wacky, so i don’t have the balls enough to ask her to look into a recycle program from our current waste management system.
- plastic bags. this was a hard one since we have a dog, but we finally gave them up. and no, this doesn’t mean we stopped picking up poop—biodegradable bags are now purchased for that dirty job. we do get the occasional plastic bag when we’re on outings sans bike (thus sans bike bag), or we forget to grab a canvas bag on the way out. but perhaps stores should stop offering them as an alternative altogether, so that it’s not such an easy fall-back.
- light bulbs. our main lights have been switched out to CFLs, though now i hear there is reason to be concerned over too much mercury. regardless, i subscribe to the ideology that if something affects my pocketbook for the worse, i make amends to change the offender. meaning: i just turn lights off when they’re not necessary. end of story.
- vegetarian. well, mostly.
- online anything and everything. trying to put an end to all paper catalogs. all but one of my financial institutions allows for paperless statements. all bills are paid online. phone books? pfft. who needs ‘em when the internet is right there at your fingertips.
- and personally, bottled water is simply an annoyance and reeks of pretension, imo.
things to work on: our usage of water and my occasional trip to a coffeeshop.
- short showers are difficult for me. and baths, well, the boy and i both take them probably more often than we should.
- rinsing dishes before going into the dishwasher. listen, we’re in an apartment with low-end, non-energy efficient appliances. and that alleged “dishwasher” needs a little help before the cycle begins.
- but, in effort to make up for it, we don’t run water while we brush our teeth, nor do we use the washer and dryer frequently. sounds gross on the laundry issue, but really, aside from underwear, do your clothes need that much laundering? how stinky of a person are you? besides, washers and dryers (and the mainstream detergents) are not particularly good for the health and longevity of your clothing anyway.
- and really, i will stop by CVS or walgreens soon and pick up an insulated coffee mug. i don’t drink coffee, but need an infrequent warm beverage. and every single time i do, a pang of guilt hits like a freight truck when i walk out with my paper cup. bad me!
so overall, not too bad of a round-up. but at least i know where we need help. and, i know that many of my everyday choices are already for the better anyway.
——
22 April 2008
