Tonight after I rode to the end of the street, along the lake and the creek to the falls, and then followed a groomed, snowy trail along the Mississippi and through the state park, looking at deer tracks, spooking three deer, trying not to hit a bunny, debating what would be a good name for my fat tire bike and before I found a lost dog and, thankfully, a short time late, its distraught owner, I was thinking of you, dear Atlanta colleagues.
I know some of you don't like winter. You've lived in the north and, yes, I totally agree that Duluth in the wintertime before climate change got in full swing was pretty abusive. But even when you get kind of excited to build a snowman in Atlanta with your kids, or get to pull them around the backyard in a sled, you still have to have your schedules disrupted and your roads made impassible.
You don't get to see the good parts of winter. You don't get the reprieve from lawn mowing and bugs and humidity. You don't get the quiet that falls over the city. You don't get outdoor ice rinks and cross country skiing and snowshoeing right in your own city - sometimes down the middle of your own street. You don't get to see animal tracks and human tracks and get to walk on icy lakes. You don't get fleece-lined jeans.
I've been surprised by your snow and your cold this year, which isn't too far off from where we often are. You have a good sense of humor about it. But as much as I complain about the cold and yearn for warm sunlight, it's pretty great to get outside on a dark winter night and go for a bike ride. On a bike named... Jim?
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/Maggie2018TourDeMN
http://main.nationalmssociety.org/goto/MS150Maggie2018
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