One, you will note that last week I took a very short poll (see bottom right) My dilemma being, my desires and my conscience. I used to commute 2 hours a day (by bus) in SF - I never got tired of the scenery, but I had no time left for myself and spoke to Hub more by phone than in person. Then I moved to Minneapolis, finally got a job, and amazingly it was 3 miles from our house - I started coming home for lunch, I was spending time with my family (Hub and Bob) and I had a mid-day escape from a job and brand new career I was not too sure I liked. Lunch became my refuge and my escape. And then I started feeling like I should try to bike - I did it in SF and it was a heck of a lot further, I should make an effort to do it here. But after years of lonely lunches and milling around the City, I had a hard time with the thought of staying in the office all day - in fact I tried on Bike to Work Day, but nearly went insane and sprinted on my bike for home mid-day at the risk of sweat and a long lunch. It wasn't practical. I wanted to make it work, but I wanted to stay sane during what has been a roller-coaster couple of years. Well, after pitching the idea at my review a few months ago and pretty much giving up on it ever happening - I was shocked last week at the staff meeting when work decided to go with 'core hours'; this means I can come in early and leave early! My whole world has opened up to me now - it is like I have been given a whole new life. No more need to waste an hour for lunch every day if I want to ride my bike and take a quick lunch, no more need to waste an hour in the morning drinking coffee waiting to go to work (though I am VERY good at that) - now my day is mine (except for 8 hours). I had a short amount of time to decide what my new schedule would be, thus the short poll time - in the end I decided I will try to bike 1-2 days a week, eat a quick lunch at work, and get home early. This is a start for me.
Second, A few months ago, the City of Minneapolis began paving a path worth its weight in gold almost right to the front door of my place of employment. I've been watching it slowly unfold from the first days, taken it for a test ride a few times, gleefully watched two girls riding down it in skirts singing at the top of their lungs on a quite July 3rd evening, and today the gaps that filled with rain over the weekend were closed between the path and the street - the final connection has been made!
I took advantage of this smooth, traffic-free path on my round trip from work today and enjoyed it so much, I asked Hub to come test ride it on the way to the store.
I really am a lucky girl. Life may not be perfect and I may long for things that once were, but these two things have changed my daily path and for that I am truly thankful.
