august poem

A friend can be a crack in the ceiling where you trace the features of a character you once met in a book that you forgot to to return to the library in the town where you once lived where you no longer have an address.

Or a someone on a bus who comes out of their lonely silence to offer you a gift of companionship and you ride together for a while knowing you will likely never see that person again and you will never be in their debt and yet you are grateful 

or the silence itself 

reflexive 

and as deep and 
bottomless 
as a cold quarry pond. 
Deeper than any still water 
and deeper than that. 

You can hear the whistle of your nervous system as it races to complete each thought and you know you are not hearing it all 

nor catching every nuance. 

And then you breathe in and realize you have been waiting for a rush of sound to release you from this crush of waiting. 

A friend could sit there beside you on the boardwalk bench, 

unexpectedly still wet from the condensation of the cool night before 

and wait for you to acknowledge their presence 

Understanding that if you do not know them it is because you are deep in the machinations of your own tangle of thoughts 

Lost perhaps 

And you need 

to find your way home 

before 

you can open your mouth 

to speak 

pipers

Playing with wacom tablet.
Pleasant day off. I did not get much accomplished but sometimes you just need to doodle the day away.
These are the shore birds we call pipers. I do not know if that is actually what they are. They live on the shore's edge and dart in and out of the surf scouring the sand for food. They never get caught in the waves and their habit is to stay in a large group. I think they are so much fun to watch.

Me and my shadow

Another lovely ride on the boardwalk. The breeze was pleasant but, the sun was strong and the heat was reflected from the buildings and the boardwalk itself. I consumed plenty of water before, during and after.
Post Labor Day the beach is officially closed. It doesn't stop the sun worshippers, even tho there are no life guards. They are back in school. It doesn't stop the swimmers either, and there is grave danger in swimming with no life guard. The locals always know when someone is in trouble in the water. The rescuers race to the beach at breakneck speed and you had better get out of the way.
The last two pics are taken from the east end of the board walk. We live on the other end. A good ride. Four and a half miles round trip, I try to go twice, on a good day, which is not hard unless there is wind. The bike lane in the middle is great-except when walkers forget to look and you almost run into them:) At least we don't have to dodge the cars in the road.And it is flat!
I am trying to ride as much as I can and still have time to make things. I figure "use it or lose it" applies to bike riding along with most other thing in life. It also gives me energy. I have been riding here since I moved here in '92. I had an old schwinn which I put a baby seat on and I used to put Katy in the back in a helmet, and off we would go. She would drink a bottle of juice and go to sleep. Blissful! Bailey did not like to ride as much. She used to put up a fuss so I did not ride with her as a passenger as much. When I had the two little kids, I bought one of those two seated joggers but they used to fight and squabble so I gave it up and found time to ride by myself. Tried to. Mike and I used to ride alot more and I hope to pick it up again. Cooler weather is great for cruising along the beach.