wishful Wednesday - bike care mentor

Sometimes, going round in circles can actually be beautiful...
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Have been making an effort to increase my walkabout time every day, the last spate of soft grey damp days has made that a pleasure. 'Tis the bright unrelentingly sunshiney ones that make me want to hide till dusk, (or get up in the soft and cool before the day begins, tho' that is much less likely) Yesterday, got off at a different bus stop on my way to PT, and found this lovely greenery archway over the sidewalk, on a street with extraordinarily wide parking strips, the sidewalk must have been at least ten or twelve feet away from the curbside, and several folks had made interesting garden spaces in what is usually simply waste ground. (though more and more around town I see raised garden beds rather than just grass)

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After my shoulder was inspected, detected, pushed and prodded all about, and a new improved regime of exercise prescribed, I headed downtown for some necessary errands. It always surprises me how more folks don't look up while they're walking around, but then, most folks don't even look around them, much less up...

Portlandia, between the built world and the green world
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So while downtown, just couldn't resist stopping in at Powells, and ended up using the last of my card on two books. I found an old bicycle care manual from the seventies, that actually has a small bit of information about three speed bikes. I have a sweet Electra I traded for, that desperately needs attention, and I know almost nothing about bicycle maintenance other than how to put air in the tires. My hope is that the Electra will fit me better than my current bike. For that matter, my regular bicycle needs love too, so I guess my Wishful Wednesday is for some bike care mentoring - anyone local + knowledgeable want to come over sometime and be helpful - I'd be happy to swap for sharing of knowledge of my own areas of greater expertise.

I also brought home yet another garden book: The Resilient Gardener, by Carol Deppe. I'm still working my way through it; the author is local to the Willamette Valley, and the book is not an overview, but rather her take on a specific assortment of crops (potaotes, corn, beans, squash, and eggs) that grow well. I'm finding a lot of information that is not in the other garden reference books in the Acorn Cottage library, and will post a review once it moves off the bedside nightstand and back into the bookcase.