milestones?

Dear Bloggity;

I hope these thoughts find you doing well. We spent the day today finishing the wood cutting for deep winter. While I didn't get done, it is close and there will be a day or two in mid-February early March that will provide the opportunity to get out and put the finishing touches on the wood pile. That little bit that will be provision for the late season ice-storm that will visit our humble abodes in mid-March. That prediction from your friendly neighborhood wooly worm. This is all just a long way to say it is time for a long winter's nap, and I am fine.

Last week, I mentioned that I had passed a milestone by doing an entire bike ride in tempratures that were below freezing. I was heading in one direction with the blog and suddenly a word or two popped into the flow and I went in another direction ending up with Wonder Bread sacks on my feet. Blogs are like that some of the time. But I had started talking about the milestone of riding in the cold weather.

Cold weather riding is officially here.  I had hoped that the assassin deer would be too involved with keeping their butts safe during hunting season to pay any attention to me. Yes, I had hoped that the hunter would become the hunted. Alas, I was too hopeful.

Actually, what seems to be happening is that every time I reach a milestone the assassin deer step up their attempts. Its like a cold war arms race. Summer rides; they try to run out in front of me. Fall rides; they try to drop walnuts on my head. Walnuts are gone? They try hedge apples. The first night ride, the assassins use decoys along the side of the road to move me to the center of the road where they stand in the shadows with their pointy antlers ready to skewer me like the Staypuff Marshmallow Man.

Now Jack Frost is nipping at my toes (or is that nose) and these deer assassins have stepped up their attacks. I am locked in a cold war with four legged, cloven footed

lyme diseased devils. Now they are using the sneakiest attacks yet. I was riding along and passing a well decorated house that is all ready for the reason for the season, I caught a reflection of the lights off of the pavement. I stopped to investigate and was shaken to the core by what I found.

The lights were reflecting off of black ice. Not just any black ice either, this appears to be buck black ice. That's right. As the temps continue to fall the assassin deer are peeing in the roadways. It sits there and then freezes in such a way that it is undetectable by passing bicyclists. Lying in wait for me to pass by slip and go down so that, the assassins can jump out of the weeds and trample me with their tiny cloven hooves. Oh the humanity.

So I want to thank all of you Christmas decorators out there. You make my rides so much more enjoyable. The red, green and white lights help me pass the miles with a smile on my face. The Harley riding reindeer inspires me to go even faster. (It scares me.) It is your dedication to your art that inspires me most. The other night while on my ride at 9:00 p.m., I saw one of my heros standing on a ladder hanging lights in the cold and the dark on a tall shrub in the front yard. That kind of dedication shows a commitment to pushing back the cold dark nights when the sun has turned its back against us.

Pushing back the dark and illuminating the sneaky traps of my arch nemesis, that's the Christmas Spirit.

Take care.

Roger

ps; speaking of milestones. Someone reading this blog will be my 5000th reader. Thanks for you support and reading.