Fighting MS one pedalstroke at a time: Where the wood drake rests

It has been cold and windy here, and I have what likely (based on my symptoms, exposure, etc.) is my normal allergy-prompted springtime cold. In lieu of solo bike rides away from people, I have been taking long, solo walks away from people. On the more cold and rainy days, I've been walking around the lakes by my house. On the nicer days, I've been walking through neighborhoods and finding an isolated spot to go peek at the creek or Mississippi River.

I try to take at least one photo per day of something that catches my eye, but couldn't do that when I walked in the dark, in the rain, the other night. It would have been improper for me to photograph the scenes I saw in people's lit up homes! Instead, I offer you the mental image of my friend Jen and I having a dance party - she was in her house with the window open and I was on her front sidewalk.

Along Minnehaha Parkway

This reminded me of the
half mannequin I used to have
in my dorm room - a gift from
my sister's old boyfriend

My sister sent me this beautiful poem, because it captures my dad's spirit 100%. She said she is walking a ton, too. I think this is something that we picked up from my dad. I sure miss him, especially right now.

The Peace of Wild Things

by Wendell Berry

When despair for the world grows in me
and I wake in the night at the least sound
in fear of what my life and my children’s lives may be,
I go and lie down where the wood drake
rests in his beauty on the water, and the great heron feeds.
I come into the peace of wild things
who do not tax their lives with forethought
of grief. I come into the presence of still water.
And I feel above me the day-blind stars
waiting with their light. For a time
I rest in the grace of the world, and am free.