Falling

The calendar says it is fall. Fall sure didn't happen this year in any sort of spectacular fashion. The golden and orange/red hues were hard to find. The weather: hot, rain then cold and storms. I guess it makes the moments of what we love about fall more precious when it is hard to find? Maybe, if we can manage to take or get the time to do so.

We have been slowly building a hearth for our wood stove while it is down. Getting closer with the base welded up. The floor of the heart is elevated above the regular floor and a heavy porcelain tile laid. The walls are field stone veneer starting on concrete board attached to the walls. The veneer in held in place with heavy tile thin set mortar. Tedious. We laid out the stoned before hand to get them to fit together. Like a puzzle that never fits together. Then, once on the wall the joints needs filled with pointing mortar. The first shot at this yielded a red clay colored mortar which I had to chisel out and start over since we were trying for buff. Did I mention that it was tedious?

Puzzle pieces

Finished. Or at least the stone work is finished.

Time to ride has been hard to find. Same story, work, weather, family. I did get an afternoon off from work and rode most of the trails at Lake Hope on my monocog. Some of the storms had left the trails littered with limbs and several large blow downs. A cool mix of sun and clouds still, a great day to be out.

A birthday blast under grey and cold skies.

The sun came out for soccer though.

A little more gold before it disappeared.

Found a cool bit of nostalgia when cleaning up the basement, a cycling cap from the Athens Brick Criterium. This may be from the same year I watched Greg LeMond race?

Bring back the Brick!

Ah, election day. That one day where we say "just go vote"! Well, I am a proponent of fulfilling your civil duty and voting. But, please do so as a well informed and educated voter. Don't just vote the party line. Don't just follow your gut. Get informed with real facts. Learn how government works and how things are funded. Be responsible. Have intelligent conversations with those whom you respect. Listen to those whom you disagree with. Share your perspective with thoughtfulness and humility. Let's have a resurrection of civility.

I drink good coffee and I vote.

Final thought: look for the art around you.

A rusted electrical box or art. All about perspective.

What's spinning: U2's Zooropa. Released in July 1993 and recently remastered and pressed on vinyl. One of my favorites and underrated albums.