Behind the New Haven sunset

A long hiatus on this blog, but an iced mocha from Koffee? on a warm evening and a bike ride out north of the city and then back again, back into the night, seemed like a good occasion. Riding on a borrowed bicycle, or maybe inherited is a better word, from my friend R who's now 6000 miles away in the fair state of Hawaii, seemed like a good occasion.

And like him and the sticker shock (buying food in a state that's more expensive than CT??) he writes about on his blog, I'm struck by the differences between the roads as ridden in the Bay Area and here in and around New Haven: the lack of shoulders to ride on here, the smooth, well-paved-ness of many country roads but still the frequent treacherous potholes, and then there was the wasp or whatever it was that unfortunately found its way into my pant leg and must have felt its life to be in danger from the fabric thrashing about because of all the pedaling, because it gave such a nice sting to remember it by, a sting that proceeded to radiate up and down my hamstring for the rest of the ride home, perhaps just to serve as a reminder that everything in the background isn't always as pretty as the pictures we post on Facebook and Instagram...