In Which the Cool Night Sky Honks at Me

Above and below--data from my Wahoo bike computer and linked phone app on today's ride.

We’ve had a run of warm weather this Christmas week, which is set to come to a temporary end as rain and winter temperatures are moving in. Saturday is supposed to feature a cool rain all day which may end with a bit of snow.

Today was cooler than it’s been for a while, but it was still much warmer than usual. My wife got me an electric leaf blower for Christmas. I had always been anti-blower—a rake is quiet and provides more exercise—but she was of the opinion that heart attacks are something I should avoid, and I guess I kind of go along with that sentiment.

Anyway, starting about 11 a.m., we spent the middle of the day “raking” the backyard with the new blower. In about 3 hours, we got it done. She actually did most of the blowing while I used our yardy cart to transport leaf piles to the woods behind our fence.

The main thing is we got the job done in about 3 hours. I have to admit, it would have been a much longer job with strictly rake power, and while I still wielded rakes and lifted a lot of leaves, I don’t think it was nearly as physically taxing. with the aid of the blower.

Still, we both, after a quick lunch, took longish naps—I went to sleep a bit after 2 and didn’t wake up until 4 p.m.

My plan all along was to take a bike ride today. I went in the backyard to retrieve a jacket I had left there earlier when the chores of the day had warmed me up. By after 4, it was notably cooler. I next wheeled my road bike out of the garage, lit the lights (it was getting to be nearly sundown) and headed out towards the Lowe Park Trail.

Along the way, I made some images. There are three great spots to watch the sunset that I know of. One is the campus of MMU, which features a central green space overlooking woodsy hills, which has a nice view of the afternoon sky. But the best local sunset spot, in my opinion, is Cedar Lake, where one can look west from the east shore and enjoy the sunset sky reflected in the water. Well, not when the water is all frozen, but it’s still a good sunset watching place.

And the other great spot is Lowe Park, which features expanses of flat land that display a pretty sky very nicely.

Christmas lights on fence seen on the way to Lowe Park. These are either on Geode or Third  Street (Geode becomes Third Street when it crosses 29th Avenue in Marion).

On this short, late bike ride, I took my good camera, planning to make images of the pretty sky of Lowe Park. I was entertained by flying flocks of geese--at one point, two flocks intersected and intermingled in some twilight flight of theirs, making quite a noise. It was a pretty ride in which the sky was often honking at me.

And the sky did not disappoint. I’ll up a whole bunch of images after these words.

Seen on Tower Terrace Road on ride to Lowe Park.

The trail at Lowe Park might be a bit dicey to ride in the dark. I was a bit concerned, because of two significant dips I knew of, and I didn’t particularly want to hit them while flying along at 12 mph or more. Turns out, both of the dips have been recently repaired and the trail was actually quite nice, even in fading light. Good on you, city of Marion.

More images from the pretty sunset and post-sunset ride, starting with a pond on Irish Drive and then going on to the sky at Lowe Park. These are in time order, so you will note the sky getting darker. The final image is on the way home from the Trail along Geode, Christmas lights and Venus: