Summer Sunday Sunny Ride

The sky is bright and free of clouds. There is a light breeze. Left or right? Left.

First the peddle motion. Adjust the mirror. Drift down the hill toward the south. Get a sense of the day. Quiet. Little traffic. Sunday waking morning.

Finished watching Sunday Morning, a stable, and enjoying Steve Winwood's house. Bought at 19. Wow. What was I doing at 19? Not buying property.

Pump up the tires from 20 lb. ........ of pressure to 80 lb........ Ah, that's better. 2 cups of coffee and a small cup of raisins and almonds and I'm off.

Turn right. Dead tree catches my eye. Stark limbs against the blue background. I've always like trees. They are roots upside down. Reaching up to the sky. Catching light.

There is a young couple moving into a new home. Why is she wearing a skirt on moving day?

Turn left, but not the first street, the second street. Different. Shake it up baby.

Onto Grove. Smooth. No room between cars and cars, so stop when traffic gets too close. Young mothers walk their carriages. Stop. Let the traffic pass. Up the hill to Libbie. Not bad today. Pause at the light. Across from the StarBucks where Maggie and I had coffee.

Turn right and drift down hill. Pass Stuffys sandwich shop and the 7-11. Brake to slow down past the walkers. 86 degrees says the bank sign.

Turn right onto Patterson. A bus has stopped with flashing lights. Turn into a gas station to go around it. Don't like to not see what is going on around me.

Back on Patterson, pass the topiary bear. Reminds me of the Grateful Dead dancing bear. Pass the library. It's closed on Sunday. Strange. That's when people have time, but all those books are stolen from the people. I'm sure it's a money saving program.

Two crows fly over head and I coast down the hill pass the sign with glasses I designed as a logo for a eyeglass company in the 70's. Still holds up. Pass the animal doctor which I have not been too recently due to home remedies of handkerchiefs and blankets.

Up the hill at a steady pace. Truck unloading a refrigerator next to the house with the forest backyard in the front. I stop and let traffic pass by before continuing around the truck. Up another hill and I'm at the beginning point. But the adventure is not done.

Across Westmoreland and down pass the branches in the street and the Patterson Baptist Church. Why didn't we go there? We went to First Baptist. It probably wasn't built then. They have a new sign.

Uh Oh! Flashing lights ahead. Ambulance. Stop at the stop light. Patterson and Malvern. The corner where I spent so many years. The ivy still doesn't grow on the corner. The house across the street has cleaned up all of it's old lumber. It's like a real backyard.

The house at 4101 Patterson has a pineapple flag on the porch. A welcome symbol. I don't think it was a welcoming place when I lived there.

Down past the two black guys standing outside the Seventh Day school. Stop at the light. I'm getting tired of stopping at every light. Push on.

Bear to the left. I want to go straight, but the traffic wills me to turn. This is the route I do every day going to work. I pause at the light, then move ahead. I glance at the apartments at my right and wonder. I could be living there, but.

Turn left and back onto Patterson, my intended path. Pass my Jr. High School. Constant repair to the concert pillar fence around the front. This is what my taxes are paying for.

Another stop light and a rest. Look at the cleaners that used to be a gas station which sold us candy in the day.

Press onward. Down the row houses. Pass the house I give homage to of a little girl so far away who I miss so much. Down to the laundry mat and Patterson Express. Turn left then right. Note the "Buy is cheaper than rent" sign. For $130,000.00 you can BUY an old apartment which has been abused for years by who know who

Up Park Avenue, pass the Vietnam bar that was once a pizza delivery place I used to hang at, pass the sports bar that used to be a garage. Pause at Boulevard and stare at the church across the street. That was "THE" Baptist church in Richmond Dr. Adams ran the town. At least, I heard that. Now they are accepting vans of homeless and impaired people. Pass the former coffee house where we watched the man land on the moon.

Pause and let the traffic thin around the light at Robin Inn. Up the bumpy hill and pass another church. We seem to have a lot of them.

Pause at Strawberry Street and note the car parked in the street. What's up with that? Wait until traffic stops before you pass. Pass the Rowland's house. Down to the little triangle park with the cute little restaurant across from the church next to the house where I rode a motorcycle up the stairs and into a foyer for a party.

Up another hill and pass another church and notice more clouds fill the sky. Another stop at the traffic light after passing two women talking across the street.

Another triangle park and hard turn right. Now on Hanover you travel back west. And as always, stop at the red light on Lombardy. Wait for the cars to turn, then travel on.

Note: it takes 66 peddles per city block. That's 33 revolutions of the peddles. An average Sunday ride is 100 blocks. You do the math.

Up hill from here. Steady pace. Note the contrast shadows from the canopy of trees in the fan. A regular pace of one foot after another. Press down on the peddle. Enjoy the quiet.

Another stop at Lombardy Wait for the cars to turn. Then a blond girl with short jeans on a bike rides by. What was I waiting for? Another time?

Press forward after the old woman with jet black hair passing in front of me.

Stop at Robinson Street and watch the traffic. Breath.

Ride on pass David's house and turn to the left onto Grove. Stop at the Boulevard and check the process of the museum construction. A young jogger stops at the light and catches your eye. She's note yet sweaty and smiles. The light changes and you press on.

Slow roll pass the Gertie neighborhood. Keeping on the side so the increasing traffic can pass.

Stop at Nansmond. Watch the light and think about the kiss. After the car fills across the street and moves out, you move on.

Another stop at Thompson street and watch the digital sign at the Wellness Factory. Think about the hill that is next.

Move forward and do not shift down. Over the Powhite Parkway and pass the apartments turned to homes. Then the press. Up two blocks. It's not too bad today. Pass the Malvern apartments where Bill Rowlett's aunt lived. We would visit her. Don't know why, but she always fed us milk and cookies.

Pass the Greek Orthodox Church and down hill from here. Move to the side to let traffic flow. Must be late and church is out.

Take a turn off the usual route and off to the grocery store for beverage refreshment and relaxation.

Until next Sunday.