Outside again
Jun. 7th, 2026 12:48 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
halfshellvenusAfter a week of hot temperatures, I was able to bike out in the world again. My downstream trip a week ago revealed horrifying areas of stripped-out pavement about 1.5 miles from my first turnaround point. That part of the bike path needed repaving, but the prep-work left scarred, ancient blacktop behind and 4" high bumps going between pavement shifts. Ow, my wrists!
Fortunately, they repaved in the intervening week! Usually, the prep happens and then months go by without follow-up. :O It was nice to have it fixed, since I need the maximum distance there. It limits how much looping I have to do to 1) avoid tons of other people on weekends and 2) keep to the shade as much as possible on hot days. As a bonus, I rode past what looked like a helmet resting on a log on the way back. That was a turtle, and it's been years since I saw one in that area! My only other key sighting down there (decades ago) was a giant, wide pink mouth that I thought must be the world's largest squirrel. Nope— a river otter! I haven't seen one since.
I also went past (and not over) a King snake a couple of weeks ago. It was a handsome specimen that looked exactly like this. It's the first one I've ever seen, and it had the same distinct diamond patterning. There are tons of other pictures online that show versions with more black than cream or with banding instead of the diamond shape. Not honestly sure how those are all the same creature. \o?
For indoor "sightings", I just finished A Taste For Murder (featuring gorgeous Italian scenery and food, and Warren Brown looking like a gone-to-seed Robert Downey Junior). That was fluffy fun. Then I binged No Offence, which I loved. The cast was great (boy, did Viv grow on me) and it has a fun, ceilidh-worthy theme. Now I'm watching I, Jack Wright. Nikki Amurka-Bird is everywhere, somehow.
For those wondering about In The Grey (our last date night, a couple of weeks ago), that was typical Guy Ritchie. Flashy, trashy fun, though Ritchie's habit of previewing his "cleverness" gets old. Too much Eiza Gonzalez and not enough Henry Cavill. Gonzalez was basically the MacGuffin, pretty but forgettable and not a great actress. I see she was also in I Care A Lot, which we just finished, and I didn't even recognize her, so yeah. \o?
All right, back to the weekend chores!
Fortunately, they repaved in the intervening week! Usually, the prep happens and then months go by without follow-up. :O It was nice to have it fixed, since I need the maximum distance there. It limits how much looping I have to do to 1) avoid tons of other people on weekends and 2) keep to the shade as much as possible on hot days. As a bonus, I rode past what looked like a helmet resting on a log on the way back. That was a turtle, and it's been years since I saw one in that area! My only other key sighting down there (decades ago) was a giant, wide pink mouth that I thought must be the world's largest squirrel. Nope— a river otter! I haven't seen one since.
I also went past (and not over) a King snake a couple of weeks ago. It was a handsome specimen that looked exactly like this. It's the first one I've ever seen, and it had the same distinct diamond patterning. There are tons of other pictures online that show versions with more black than cream or with banding instead of the diamond shape. Not honestly sure how those are all the same creature. \o?
For indoor "sightings", I just finished A Taste For Murder (featuring gorgeous Italian scenery and food, and Warren Brown looking like a gone-to-seed Robert Downey Junior). That was fluffy fun. Then I binged No Offence, which I loved. The cast was great (boy, did Viv grow on me) and it has a fun, ceilidh-worthy theme. Now I'm watching I, Jack Wright. Nikki Amurka-Bird is everywhere, somehow.
For those wondering about In The Grey (our last date night, a couple of weeks ago), that was typical Guy Ritchie. Flashy, trashy fun, though Ritchie's habit of previewing his "cleverness" gets old. Too much Eiza Gonzalez and not enough Henry Cavill. Gonzalez was basically the MacGuffin, pretty but forgettable and not a great actress. I see she was also in I Care A Lot, which we just finished, and I didn't even recognize her, so yeah. \o?
All right, back to the weekend chores!
