I woke up this morning feeling sullen and sluggish.

It's probably because I spent all of yesterday swearing at my television.

I was going to do the same thing today, but around 1pm, I hit a wall.

It was either get out and get my blood pumping or turn into a potato, and while I like mashed potatoes, I don't really want to be one.

So I went and tuned up my bike (the brakes needed tightening and the gears needed a little adjusting).

While I was sitting at my bike, fiddling with the gear shift, a car drove down the alley nearby and stopped.

"You trying to steal that bike?" A little old man wearing thick black-rimmed glasses poked his head out of the driver's side window. He was so short his chin barely cleared the door.

I couldn't help it. I laughed.

It might have had something to do with the bike lock which was coiled around the neck of the bike, already unlocked from the fence and put away.

It might have had something to do with the helmet I was wearing, or the biking clothes.

It might have been the allan keys in my hands as I fixed the gear shift.

"No," I said, still laughing. "I'm just adjusting the gears."

He harumphfed and pulled out of the alley to go down the next one.

I wondered if he patrolled the back alleys, looking for suspicious people.

A bit silly, really. It's a very quiet neighbourhood, mostly filled with retirees who've owned their homes since the fifties, when the division was built.

~

I rode my bike -- my nice, newly tuned, freshly greased bike -- on a ride down to the river, and rode along the river a bit to the theatre, where I picked up my cheque.

I sat outside the theatre for a while, listening to the dry poplar leaves and watching out for quail (there were none today), and ate half a pork bun, drank half of my cool oolong tea.

Because I am trying to watch my food intake, what with not working much, I stopped then, because I felt full.

I biked back along the river. There were a lot of people out today, biking and running and walking their assorted dogs.

Every other biker was faster than me, despite my magical rainbow socks.

Bastards.

In any case, I biked towards Bowness, but decided I was too damned lazy to actually go all the way.

Stopped at a second hand store on my way back home. Picked up a cd (Trans Siberian Orchestra), another candle holder for my alter, a silver teaspoon, and a little silver dish for no other reason than I liked the engraving and the tiny curling feet.

Sat on a park bench on a hill overlooking the river. The grass was thin and yellow. I miss the thick green grasses and choking wildflowers of the mountains.

Ate the other half of my pork bun and finished my tea. Watched a young couple on a yellow scooter go by.

Wished I had a scooter. It would make the hill I'd been trying to bike up suck rather less.

Judy called. Talked at me, as she usually does. It was nice to hear from her; I hadn't had a good chat with her in a long time.

Talked to Janette a bit, too, but she was feeling groggy from her anti-depressants, so she passed the phone back pretty quickly.

Then my phone died.

Stopped at another thrift store. Bought two more cd's (an old Enigma album, and an old Loreena McKinnet album), a VHS copy of Dark Crystal, and a pair of white 1960's style leather pumps that I didn't really need, but I was feeling (kind of) flush with cash, so I allowed myself a six dollar splurge.

Deposited my cheque. Pulled out rent.

Biked home madly, pumping my legs as hard as I could and flashing my knees to the passing motorists.

Scandalous, I know.

And now?

Now I am home! I shall cook a proper dinner of zucchini, mushrooms, and tofu, maybe over the noodles Mark gave me, maybe not.

I shall make a pot of herbal tea, as my throat is feeling a bit of the weather.

Then I shall write some more, attempt to be eloquent, watch some evening television, and swear at my SNES.

And somewhere in there I will unpack my backpack and all my treasures.

Sounds like an evening, yes?

Sounds like an evening.

.

Rosie.

Before&After