At a snail's place

I went down for a walk by the river as I am wont to do as I pass by the place when returning to town. I noticed dozens of snails just above the waterline on the rocks so I scooped some up for my aquarium, which only has plants in it now. I took them home in an abandoned bait container which also had an earthworm in it which I put in one of my pots outside. Hey, free worm and snails. Everybody seemed to survive the trip home and they are active and moving about. I'm really thrilled to be the custodian of these beautiful creatures now.

Next I'm going to check at bait shops to see if they have any live crayfish.

Serenery

Some scenery from a bike ride home.

The river was angry and swollen

Another day biking to work. I ditched the Riverwalk this time in favor of a lesser used street.

The way in was otherwise routine but during lunch my bike showed further evidence of falling apart. The cover came off one of my tail lights and I ended up losing one of the AAA batteries (I need to secure them with a rubber band or something). On the way home my left Grip Shift somehow separated so that I only had the lowest gear up front.

It was amusing to think that I was down to one derailleur, and one brake. I had a skinnier wheel in the back from my mountain bike and the brake was too loose to grip it. Why the wheel swap? I just got the spoke repaired on the original one---$20 right there. Me and my redundant systems. If it got dark I would be relying on just a single tail light too.

The general feeling I got was of substandard readiness, if not pending collapse. I swapped the rear rack with the one on my other mountain bike, but even that doesn't seem heavy duty enough for the 30 pounds of lead-acid batteries. The newest thing on the bike is the seat, and it's not really all that comfortable. I'd like to redo everything so it is all aviation grade.

The river on the way home was brown and swollen from all the recent rain. It seemed kind of cranky.

Shortcut

A much-awaited link in the Riverwalk has been opened, allowing me to bike along the canal on the way to the post office. Saved me 1.5 miles of baking sidewalk and traffic.

A moment in the sun

After biking my mail and bank deposit, I sat by the river for while, soaking up the midday sun. Ah, it felt good. Temps in the mid-60s'F. I paused to remember my ice biking brethren to the north, then chuckled and pushed the thought away.

Contemplation by the river

I went out for a little jog and ended up just sitting by the river and beholding its beauty. This cell phone picture doesn't do it justice.