Saturday, October 18, 2008

Bikes in October -- Festive!




Gayle spent today working on quilts with ten of her quilting friends. They were putting quilts together for Russell House, which provides care for atypical children. Biketoberfest was rolling in Daytona Beach this week-end, so I followed my curiosity and rode out to the coast. I stopped for a half hour at Daytona International Speedway. A bit of the parking lot was used by all the major bike manufacturers, who had demo bikes available to try out. They were also allowing you to take your demo ride around the Speedway. I didn't do that -- I'm content with my bike and I didn't want to spend the time waiting for my turn. Lots LOTS of people waiting to ride around the race track! I rode up A1A to Ormond Beach and then went up the Tomoka Park road for about 10 miles. It's a beautiful ride on a two lane road between rows and rows of Southern Live Oaks that arch over the road, like riding in a green tunnel. I stopped at the Bulow Oak, a really large Live Oak that dates back to the time of the Bulow Plantation, pre-Civil War era. I then caught I-95 back south to the huge Bruce Rossmeyer Harley showroom / J&P Cycles store...and much more! Many vendors willing to mount your new pipes or seat or you-name-it right there. Many tents set up to service bikes. And of course, food and more food. It was a short quarter mile from the Interstate to the stores, but it took me 10 minutes. I was in a long slow line of bikes, two by two, moving to a huge parking lot. There had to be a thousand bikes in the lots, with bikes coming and going all the time. I was impressed! Can you find my bike? It's there, front row, sixth bike down. This was just a small corner of the parking by J&P Cycles store.After taking in the scene for a while, I drove south to Hwy 40 and went west for about 20 miles to Barberville. In that 20 miles, there had to be about 200 to 300 bikes that went by, heading to Daytona. I stopped in Barberville at the kitchy statuary place -- they got rid of the 12 foot tall chicken! I stopped by the Big Tree Park south of Lake Mary -- good pictures of the Senator, one of the largest bald cypress trees in the world. It's 17.5 ft in diameter. Got home after 6.5 hrs and abou 175 miles. Beautiful day to ride. Fun time!










The Senator, all 50,000 board feet!




The trusty Kaw!

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Frog Bane

We had an unwelcome guest on our slider this morning -- a Cuban tree frog, one of the larger ones I've seen around the house. It's an invasive species, will eat just about anything it can get its mouth around, including insects, indigenous tree frogs, small birds, and even its own kind. GB wanted to catch it for her science kids at school, but I put my foot down. So to speak. After giving it a once-in-a-lifetime photo opportunity, I gave it a choice of paper or plastic. The frog didn't seem to care, so I caught it in a plastic grocery bag, put it out of our misery, and dropped it in the trash can.
It's really not surprising that we have an abundance of frogs around here. We have been blessed with a greater than normal rainfall this past week. Huge thunder and lightning storm on Wednesday. The high water mark was Thursday evening -- 3.5 inches in about two hours. The retention pond behind the house, which was almost dry again ten days ago, now has ducks paddling around in about 4 feet of water. We're at 50 inches of rain for the year, which is 8 inches above normal.
We had our One Great Day of Service at TCS yesterday. The kids did very well. My 5th graders worked at the Salvation Army cleaning, serving lunches, washing windows, and weeding. GB's 3rd graders bundled thousands of pencils at A Gift For Teaching, a non-profit organization that collects school supplies so that teachers can get free supplies for their students. (Orange County Public Schools now has 60% of its students on free and reduced lunches.) The non-profit also provides resources so teachers can give birthday gifts and Christmas gifts to their students. They also provide music and art lessons for disadvantaged students. We had many parents who worked with their children as chaperones and steadying hands. We ended the day with an all-school chapel. Each grade level gave a brief recap of their day and we celebrated together God's blessings.
This coming Wednesday the elementary grades will go to the Bob Carr Auditorium for our annual youth symphony concert. The concert hall is just a few blocks away so we take the free bus service, Lymmo. Buses run every 5 minutes downtown, but with 225 students we tend to clog up the system. Every year it's a SRO operation; other folks who are waiting at bus stops en route step up to the open bus door, take in the wall to wall kids, and step away...Even if there is room, they don't want the buzz of elementary age kids talking and finding joy in the moment!

Thursday, October 02, 2008

Cause and Effect

A couple of weeks ago GB and I went for an afternoon ride to the Orange County Convention Center to see the annual home show. We enjoyed a couple of hours walking around and checking out the displays. Lots of green energy conservation approaches to home ownership...and the cooking / food / knives / cookware venues. We did buy some arch supports for GB; she loves 'em! We also got a set of Egyptian cotton 400 thread count sheets (one fitted) with 4 pillow cases for $20. And we have an appointment with the Andersen window folks to see about a replacement slider for our great room. It was a hot afternoon and when we got home GB saw that she had melted the sole of her shoe on the muffler. The foot peg, which is right above the muffler, had been feeling warm for GB but this was too much. I ordered some passenger floorboards and installed them last night. I think they will do the trick, give GB comfort and more freedom of movement on the bike. And they look good! The same week-end I had gone on a 190 mile trip with Verne. He does the scoring for the Florida CMA Bible Quiz meets. The first one was at Dunellon - we rode up the Florida Turnpike to I-75, north 12 miles, and then west for about 20 miles. I had my E-Pass transponder tied to my handlebars but it didn't work. Hope I don't end up with a ticket for running through the toll booth. Turned out that the battery was low, so I got that fixed, but I wanted something that was a bit more convenient than shoestrings on the handlebars. I found a leather windshield bag that was reasonably priced and - amazingly - made in the good ol' USA. I installed that tonight. Both the floorboards and the leather bag were well made and had everything to easily install them. So now I have cooler feet for GB and a nice little place for my transponder, garage door opener, sunglasses, etc. I did have one weird thing while I was installing the floorboards. I had opened the locked door that hides the tool kit and must have done something to the key, because this morning when I was ready to go to school, I couldn't get the key to turn the ignition on. I had to call GB, who had just left, and she turned around, picked me up, and took me to school. I hustled home this afternoon and tried to get a replacement key for the bike, but the locksmith didn't have the proper blank. I asked him to try to straighten the key, which he did. Now it works again. Go figure! I think I will have a second key made however. Just in case...