sombre, sludgy, splendid sunday

Sombre, as in the weather. Moody, dark, and threatening rain, yet never following through. This kept the seawall in a lovely state: enough traffic to not feel alone, but not enough to feel crowded.

Sludgy, as in the ground condition. Copius leaves have fallen, a not insignificant amount of rain has fallen on them, and cars, trucks, people, and bicycles have mushed them into organic mud. Thank goodness for fenders and being a happily slow cyclist; if I was the more aggressive type I might be frustrated by the slipperiness of that kind of surface at higher speeds. As it is: not a big deal. (Kind of fun, actually, like the inner-child instinct to run straight through puddles when you're wearing gumboots.)

Splendid, as in my chore-running afternoon.

Mended a wool skirt that had been waiting for me to stop procrastinating and took it out for a spin. The lovely thing about fall weather and wearing thick tights is feeling somewhat less exposed than in the summertime when wearing skirts without a lot of horizontal give.



Dropped off a bag of clothing donations at the VGH Thrift Store. Hooray for baskets!

Swung by Three Bags Full for a little yarn shopping.



Poked my head in at the Bike Doctor to ask if they sold any rear reflectors. They didn't, but they had a stash in a "miscellaneous parts" box in the repair shop and the nice fellow gave it to me at no cost. They're one of the shops I patronize fairly frequently for parts and things, so I promised him I'd be back. While they're not the most organized shop I know (their ordering system has a few holes) they do have a great selection and have proven once again to be friendly and helpful. (Although it seems like no one I've ever talked to there can understand why I would specifically want a dark coloured bicycle...)



I haven't ridden much in the past few weekends, mostly staying within walking distance of my apartment. It's the hibernation instinct, I suppose. However, today's errand afternoon reminded me of how things aren't much different now than at any other time of year. I've aready conquered my instinct to change my commuting behavior in the fall and this helps to emphasize that I don't need to change my weekend utility transportation behavior either.

Now we begin the countdown to the darkest day of the year...