Where you can tell me to shut up
or not
I packed the weekend with bicycling, and I feel great. Saturday, I drove to an Amish farmer’s market I’ve been wanting to check out, put the food in a cooler, and then went for a ride at Parvin Lake. Where there is a very aggressive swan, which I caught on video! That’ll be the next Pine Baron post. Then on Sunday, it was so beautiful out that after reading my paper and watching CBS Sunday morning, I took my bike to Cooper River park and explored nine miles of paved trails, circling the wide bend of the river, which is more like a lake, with sailboats and rowers out in the sun.
It was a good weekend. I wish I lived in a more bicycle friendly area, but it could be worse. At least I have a lot of parks to ride in.
I took today off work to explore a few places, and to visit my sister, my niece, and my nephew. I’ll write about our adventures soon. Today I’ve got a few good reads to share with you, and a poll about how frequently I ought to write this newsletter. I like sticking to a schedule, but I don’t want to blather when I don’t have much to say. So, let me know how you’d feel about a less rigid schedule than Wednesdays and Sundays, with the poll at the bottom.
In the New Yorker, scientists have found a good use for AI: deciphering the language of sperm whales.
A place I’ve long wanted to visit, the Hopewell culture earthworks in Ohio, will be named a UNESCO heritage site. Larger than the pyramids at Giza, it is a long time coming that the pre-colonial sites such as this get their due.
tells us why my favorite bird, the bluejay, that noisy pterodactyl of the suburbs, is shy this time of year. Vanity!
Also,
wrote a fine piece about how everything must be done for profit these days, and not for enjoyment. It smothers the joy out of many things, in my experience.
And lastly, the Ringer has a great profile of ultramarathon runner Courtney Dauwalter, who may well be the best human at running 100+ mile races. Read about her pain palace. Ultramarathons are a sport I never took much notice of until I started fight training with Jodi Reicher, who runs them, and after I read my friend Lawrence Block’s memoir Step by Step, about how a prolific writer and traveler somehow also found time to racewalk competitively in 50 and 100 mile races. LB calls it “a pedestrian memoir,” but I found it great reading, and I couldn’t racewalk if I tried.
Don’t forget to vote. It matters.
I say you write when you want.
You know my struggles in that area, so if it's working for you, do it!
So many great nuggets! Your weekend sounds lovely. I just got a new bike, and your weekend inspired me to change up my plans tomorrow for a long ride instead - thank you. And we have a soccer tournament in Cincinnati in a few weeks, but now I'm not annoyed about it because we can squeeze in a visit to Hopewell while we're there!
The blue jays are nuts at our place right now, but they're hard to see...hilarious that they're embarrassed. Thanks for pointing me to Laura's piece. Since they're your favorite bird, I wrote a little something about them that you might like: https://sarabytheseason.substack.com/p/be-like-the-blue-jay#details