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Friday 1st, 34-38F, 1-3C, clear start then overcast, after overnight frost. Light winds. As I scribble my thoughts, as I wait for morning coffee, it has started raining. Where do I queue for my refund for the forecaster's failure to provide the promised sunshine?
As usual, at this time of year, I am torn between changing "the look" of my blog or keeping what seems to work. Change of appearance, for its own sake, is not progress and in many [commercial] cases seems pointlessly counterproductive.
2015 was a year of record global warmth, for literally month after month. Though there was no heat wave this last year it just seemed milder than usual as winter never really arrived. It was also the wettest year on record for Denmark. And elsewhere too, judging by the awful flooding. It has been much windier and cloudier than in previous years. At least it was according to my subjective gut feeling. Though I have no useful data to substantiate this claim. Overcast conditions directly affects my inspiration to photograph anything which isn't fixed down. Which can easily lead to a gap in the photographic record. Not least for decoration of the text.
2015 was also my lightest tricycling year. At least of the six since I became a born-again tricyclist. With many more rest days than usual, my well under 6000 miles, makes me look a bit lazy to the casual eye. I still haven't manage a century, or 100 miles in a single day. Though I did exceed my [habitual] 80 mile minimum, longest distance ride in a day, yet again. How much more difficult would it be to do the whole 100? It depends on the day and how many hours there are left in it. Long rides are best taken in light or non-extent winds in summer. Finding one of those at any time of year in windy Denmark is like finding a square mile of countryside without a single pig farm.
What I did manage to do last year was to break the habit of going out every single day. I became much more relaxed about it all and no longer had that empty feeling if I hadn't had a decent ride that day. This didn't mean I used the car instead of the trike. So at least my CO2/global warming conscience is clear. My incredibly low annual driving mileage compensates for the endless journeys of my multi-car owning neighbours. Given the cost of taxation, insurance and maintenance of my "elderly" car the cost per mile must be quite terrifying by now! NASA would probably be jealous!
Another year has passed and still no chance of finding another [dirt cheap] rural home to allow us move to a completely new area. We could both do with a complete change of scenery and much more room indoors. Chez Hovel is very unlikely to sell in the current, non-existent, rural Danish, housing market. Which means we are stuck firmly where we are. It could be an idyllic spot if our neighbours on both sides did not illegally burn demolition waste to save money. Their toxic smoke envelopes our home whether the prevailing winds blow from east or west. This is also true for the other neighbours, of course, but their attempts to sell their homes just to escape have come to nothing so far.
Which all sounds horribly negative when I read this back. I hope I can continue to amuse my readers with my endless rants and [probably frequent] repetitions. My wife does not read my blogs because she says she would have to correct all the errors. While I just call it "artistic license" while maintaining a fairly clear conscience. Just because the dustbins are out on the road doesn't mean they have to be mentioned or photographed every single day.
It still seems very strange to me that so many people would find my daily activities interesting. If the truth were known I am a humble shopper. One who happens to use a lightweight trike/tricycle to transport myself and the goods I buy, between umpteen rural supermarkets and my rural home. My page view counter suggests that I am approaching 0.3 million. While Google suggests a figure well over 400,000. Both numbers can't be right but it does seem rather a lot for a blog without any topless women or fluffy kittens. Is my "clown on a tricycle" performance so entertaining that I deserve to have 60 followers? I really don't know. Given the average human bod you can't all be here for the same reason. Nor can you all be psychologists hoping for deeper insight to a typically damaged, modern human psyche.
I'll keep on pedaling and ranting and posting pictures as best I can. Even after six years of doing this I still haven't a clue what it is "precisely" which draws people to my blog[s]. If I did, then perhaps I could try harder to improve on what I do. Does the "butterfly effect" of my constantly changing subject matter hold my reader's interest? Or could it be mere escapism? What about deeply felt gratitude that: "There but for the grace... ?" Suit yourselves. You will anyway. ;-)
Which reminds me, I often wish emoticons were readily available on blogs. Just to ensure the reader understands my meaning more clearly. I often rant with a big grin on my face. Though the smile and the rant are not remotely insincere! It seems that emoticons are just as easily misunderstood as my endless monologues. They might even end up making the text look like cherry cake or a currant bun! Probably just as well I can't fall back on "smileys" then. But don't hold your breath. ;-)
Grrr! Glorglre is screwing up the composition again. I always leave gaps between paragraphs and today they come along and close them up. I have corrected it several times but still they mess it up when I update!
After rain I had just a late morning ride for 10 miles. Shops and roads quiet. Roads wet.
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