In Which I View the Morning September Sky

OK, I know I’ve done a sky post before—but enjoying the changing light of morning (or late afternoon) is one of the perks of being a biker. I know you car pilots see the same sky, but not as clearly or fully as I do, so there.

The first four photos are from the weekend, last Sunday, Sept. 11. I know it’s a sad day, and I haven’t and won’t ever forget, but there was a cool early fall misty, dewy morning as I rode my bike on the Lindale and Boyson trails.

Morning dew gleams in grass near west entrance of Lindale Trail in Cedar Rapids.

Lindale Trail--shafts of misty sunlight.

Don't panic, citizens. Orb web gleams beside Lindale Trail--no spider in view.

Boyson Trail creek view. Day is slowly warming up and mist clearing.

The next are from today, Sept. 14—partly cloudy sky around 8 a.m. just looks pretty to me, with sun playing peekaboo behind the cloud cover. And it’s amazing how low in the sky the sun is at 8 a.m. in mid September!

Looking east at corner of F Avenue and Collins Road as I wait for light to change.

Looking east across lawn of Kenwood School.

Winter is coming. But Clarence and I are ready!

In Which Jet Lag Pleasantly Combines with Sunrise

6:30 a.m. Tuesday--shortly after leaving home. Morning sky at Rockwell-Collins pond on C Avenue.

I thought I was late Tuesday and was a little anxious as I got Francis out of the garage.

Maybe the inky darkness should have been more of a hint. My body clock is still on UK time, and far from being late, I was pretty super early—as in, leaving home around 6:30 a.m even if my body thought it was early afternoon.

With the time change, it’s just starting to get light that early in the morning. Of course, I was running with lights on. It was still, cool and very pretty.

I am not typically a morning person, although on RAGBRAI I usually rise at the crack of dawn. I guess it’s a matter of the situation—in my family, I have a reputation, deserved, for being among the first children awake on Christmas Day to see what Santa brought (and I’m not talking about when I was a kid—I mean now).

But anyway, other than being the first full day back in the U.S.A. and the first day of class after spring break, there wasn’t anything special about Tuesday that would have me biking at 6:30 a.m.

I don’t plan to make dawn biking much of a habit. But the world was a pretty place at that time—theyroyal blue sky reflected in the pond at Rockwell-Collins, the buildings of MMU batched in pinks and yellows.

Two views of the Tuesday morning light--U Center on Rohde Plaza bathed in pink, above, and, below, looking from Warde Hall bike rack towards the Battleship Donelly, turned golden by the rising sun.

Today, Wednesday, I wasn’t quite so crazily early, so I didn’t see the dawn’s light. But there were daffodils in bloom at the end of the ride, so I guess the biking morning was special today, too.

And she is off ... 6-year-old on bike sans stabilizers.

I’m did a lot of walking in the UK, and my knees seemed to have benefited. While there, I observed a 6-year-old granddaughter taking off confidently on her sister’s bike—the one they had removed the “stabilizers” from because it’s smaller and little legs can reach the ground better.

That was fun to see. It was fun to be in a country where biking is more common—racks in downtown Norwich are filled with the vehicles of commuters and shoppers.

But I am glad to be back home. The sky is bigger here—houses in town are not so close, so on a dark early Tuesday, you can really enjoy the cool expanse of blues and pinks as the new day begins. Best enjoyed, of course, on a bicycle.

I was a bit later leaving Wednesday morning, and the morning was cloudy and grey. I hope I beat the rain home tonight. Anyway, at least on Wednesday, I noticed this daffodil in bloom near the bike rack at MMU.

In Which I See Nature on a Misty Morning Ride

They may be obnoxious in your yard--giant spiked plants--but thistles are nice to see in bloom beside a bike trail.

I won’t have much time for biking adventures today—a cloudy, misty sort of day. But it was not too wet for me to ride Francis to the gym this morning.

And on the way home, I briefly rode on the paved portion of the Lindale Trail.

There were two deer, but I only caught image of one.

Mist, it seems, is good for critters. Besides hearing and seeing many birds, I had a pair of young deer amble across the trail in front of me, watched a bumblebee on a thistle for a while, and encountered an unconcerned bunny by the trail.

To bee or not to bee? Buzzer on a thistle.

I think, given how foggy it was, the photos turned out OK. Now, back to work!

The morning bunny in the grass beside the end of the Lindale Trail. Maybe bunnies are colorblind and don't realize how well they stand out against a green background. Or maybe it's a TV bunny and it assume we'll replace the green with something more interesting ...