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Short Stories 2001-2004

• Short Stories 1996-2000 • Short Stories 2001-2004

Rollerblading to work ...... April 1, 2004 -- It had to be done, the neighborhood of both my home and work is suburban and rollerblading friendly. I started with a victory lap still at home. It was all downhill in the first 5 minutes, just breaking and surfing. The uphill was tolerable and then there was another downhill. At PLAZA I had to hop across 30ft of grass, then through the parking lot, and under the highway. The sidewalks have already been cleaned from the dirt and sand of February, when i rollerbladed last. At BACKROAD i left all the traffic behind, and it was smooth sailing, ducking for trees and enjoying the scenery. At WIPEOUT I almost hugged the ground, but not quite. JEP SEAT was my destination spot.

Back in February I took on a 12 mile stretch (ok so maybe i had to go pickup my Cherokee and this was an adventurous way to do it), and the wipeout was real. There was dirt on the sidewalk and the long downhill gave me too much speed, and braking with dirt on the wheels.... well i rolled. I finished the 12miles with a bloody knee and torn jeans, but the goretex jacket cut was the biggest hit -- now fixed and the patch tells a story.

The day's statistics were:

Distance: 4.60 miles

Moving Time: 30min

Stopped Time: 30s

Moving Average: 9.2mph

Walking to Work ...... April 8, 2004 -- A week later, I headed out on foot. There was a threat of rain in the air, but will it really rain? I wore my North Face jacket -- wind or rain doesn't stand a chance :). The rain started just 3 minutes after leaving home.

It must have been in February as well when I started walking in the rain, real rain. At the end my jeans were absolutely soaked (but the jacket did of course magnificantly).

The day's statistics were:

Distance: 4.10 miles

Moving Time: 1h 09min

Stopped Time: 14s

Moving Average: 3.5mph

Boulder ...... April ??, 2004

Denver Goose ...... May 11, 2004 -- About 5 days ago when I parked at work, I saw a head rise up in the 8" high shrubs ahead of me. Coool -- a nesting goose. Where is her aggressive male companion? 6 years ago, by my work in Toronto, Canada, the 40lb male was charging employees inside and outside of their cars if they were close to the nesting female. He looked scarier during his flying attacks than on foot. But there was no sign now of the Denver male. Geese pairs stay together and mate for life -- somebody should tell him that.

I went to work and I returned a half hour later, the mother goose was gone (or do they take turns sitting on the eggs?). The nest was full of feathers but no sign of eggs or their remains. I got close to the next, while scanning the area for an incoming angry goose, but nothing. Were the gosslings born in the last half hour, or what's going on? The light was perfect now at 5:30pm and I took pictures of our building. When I started looking for the geese with my car, the goose was back at the nest. Hmmmmm. False alarm. The 2 days that followed May 11 were cold with real rain lasting for hours, and angry skies promisting to last. It even snowed in the evening. I kept seeing the mother goose with her head and long neck resting on her back, in a typical sleeping-goose fashion. She was fine, but certainly would prefer sunny days... Maybe i'll get to photograph the babies (like 6 years ago).

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Last Updated: Thu, September 1, 2005 22:37