Hurray for the Summer Polar Vortex moving into Louisville tonight! In fact, so far the summer hasn’t been bad in da ‘ville, excepting a week here or there when temps zoom into the upper ’90s and h~u~m~i~d~t~y climbs into the 70’s. <yuck> I want to cram all the outdoor activities I can think of into the coming week. I might even go to Shakespeare in the Park, the nation’s oldest outdoor Shakespeare theater (take THAT, Kentucky detractors!).
Yeah, I know. We have to own Rand Paul and Mitch McConnell, but honestly Loo’vulle is an oasis in the middle of all dat.
Now that I have a new, reliable scoot
2014 Bintelli 50 cc
I can get myself to some of the pretty riding spaces in this town – in particular River Road, a miles long winding stretch along the Ohio River where the trees meet over the asphalt.
On the river side it’s flanked by a few houses and several restuarants. Peggy, Joanie and I had dinner at Captain’s Quarters a coupla weeks ago.
It’s a restaurant with average food, but the setting is superb. After the first cocktail I morph into the water baby I became in high school when I lived in Miami. Love, love, love being by water, in water, on a boat! [Won’t be swimming in the Ohio, though.]
On the other side of River Road are expansive recreation fields. Passing them you enter the 1%’s hood and ride by real estate like this 7,549 sf house in “the much sought after Mockingbird Gardens.” You betcha the trees meet over River Road!
But, while it’s a beautiful ride, nobody takes it slow. 35 mph posted but hell, that’s just a suggestion, right? Consequently there’s a fight unspooling in City Hall to add bike lanes (which you bet I would slide in and out off with a pick-up on my ass.) 35mph is roaring on a scooter which, after all, only has 10″ wheels to smack over the ever-present potholes. So yeah, I’ll have to pick my time to ride the road, and be prepared to die.
LOL! Louisville is waaay behind other cities when it comes to bikes and small scoots, despite the desire of the young and environmentally committed to use them. [Let’s not even discusss public transportation. which is good on one corridor and sucky every single place else.] Wherever bike lanes have been put in there’s a rancid neighborhood reluctance to give them right of way. Excuse me, didn’t the oil industry recently announce that global oil reserves will last about 53 more years? Shouldn’t we all start getting used to alternative transportation?
Oh, my bad.
Illustrator unknown, but highly appreciated!
Yes, I ride super-careful, checking my rear-views for a Hummer or a Ford F-350 rearing up behind me and obviously annoyed with my ‘toy’. But, if you knew how much flat-out FUN it is to ride a scoot, how absolutely languid I have to keep my aged body so I can flow with the bumps and turns, how super alert I am to the road and the sun and the wind, you’d know why I do it!
O.K., in da’ ville, where do you go when you want to celebrate your crazy country’s birthday? After I put Asher and Foosie into their 4th of July costumes,
Asher: I HATE costumes!
Foosie: I don’t hate costumes, but that’s because I am a natural super model.
I walked on down to my neighborhood festival.
There was music
An auction on the great house steps
Beer and sandwiches
And best of all, kids.
A tent encouraging musical expression by toddlers.
Love this little boy who looks a bit unsure of the concept.
Summer in da’ Ville. It’s pleasant. Undemanding. I’m retired. My time is my own.
Life is good.
Oh. One more thing. I saw this balloon at the Crescent Hill 4th of July celebration and couldn’t help thinking how appropriate it was for our lives here in Crazy Land America.
What’s up in your neck of the woods?
