Just another rainy Sunday and a dog video that is only impressive if you knew Walter (Day #4)

Although people closer to the coast are continuing the feel the effects of the wind and rain from Hurricane Florence, those of us only experiencing the effects of Tropical Depression Florence are mostly doing alright. There are some downed tree limbs, and a little bit of standing water, but mostly we are okay. We keep getting texts from the electric company letting us know that they are working hard. We've had power consistently, so are just keeping our fingers crossed that they can get the lights back on for the many people who are still on flashlights/generators/sunlight.

Yesterday morning it wasn't even raining, and we played outside with the dog. For those you who knew Walter, you may recall that his version of fetch involved running about halfway toward the newly thrown ball before losing interest and eating some grass or a stick. He would then run enthusiastically alongside you while you walked to retrieve the ball and amble back toward whatever the starting point was and repeat the whole process. Fetch with Walter was profoundly aerobic exercise for the person throwing and retrieving the ball, but mostly allowed the dog time to bask in the sun and frolic in the grass a bit. Although I knew that there were Boston Terriers who did fetch things, I'd always attributed Walter's unique approach to the game to his breed. I'd laugh and casually think, "Well, he's definitely not a retriever..." Imagine my surprise, then, when it became clear that Cyril was not only enthusiastic about playing fetch, but was actually pretty good at it. Here's a video of him demonstrating his skills yesterday during the break in the rain:

In the background of the video, you can almost see the most substantial of the branches that fell in our yard, wedged into our baby pine tree such that it looks like some sort of graft/hybrid situation.

The cats have actually been weathering the storm surprisingly well, perhaps because there isn't much thunder, just rain. They have both enjoyed actively participating in our indoor fun ranging from the somewhat typical rainy day activity of board games to Lynn's decidedly unusual Saturday activity of building screens for our windows. The pre- and post- photos of the screens are for another day. 

Eli takes his turn at the board game. 

Eli is fairly certain that the scraps of screen were in fact the entire point of the screen-making enterprise. He will not give them back. Don't even try to take them. 

As I'm writing about the rain and all of the time we've been spending indoors, I am reminded that my Bike MS: Waves to Wine ride is actually next weekend. The hurricane has definitely put a little bit of a damper on my training, but I'm still planning to ride. My distance may be slightly diminished, but my enthusiasm and the need for amazing fundraising efforts to get us toward a world free of MS will not be lessened in the least. I'm a little over halfway toward my goal - can you help me get there? 

Life on the edge (Day #2)

Today was another uneventful day on the edge of Hurricane Florence. We have been following the news, and know that more than half a million people are without power in NC, and that they have already had to do some attic and rooftop rescues of people from New Bern, NC, but the Triangle remains relatively unscathed. We've heard a little thunder, felt a little wind, and noted some rain, but it feels more like an end-of-summer storm than a hurricane.

The sky is a bit grayer today, and there's more rain. Cyril is disinclined to go outside to pee, but otherwise we've had minimal ill effects of the storm. 

Weathering the storm...

Missing the hurricane (Day #1)

The path of Hurricane Florence was initially predicted to hit the Triangle region of North Carolina. It has since turned south and then will swing around such that much of the state will get much heavier exposure to the storm than we do. We've got all the requisite preparatory things, courtesy of Lynn, so for now all is well.

So far it's sprinkled lightly and there is a breeze that's gotten a bit stronger as the day has gone on. Doesn't much compare to the 105 mph winds that are happening on the Outer Banks right about now... More updates to come.

Back in the saddle, again

Not so much an homage to Gene Autry as just using a turn of phrase to describe the feeling of September, 2018. I'm one month into my faculty job, and in the past few weeks I have been reminded of several things:

• Transitions are hard. No matter how many new positions I start, or how many spreadsheets I create, starting something new is all at once exciting, wonderful, overwhelming, and terrifying.

• When the going gets tough, the tough get on their bicycles. 

Finding time to ride my bike through all of the transitions of 2017 and 2018 has been really difficult. This meant that reprising my #200in2016 endeavors was all but impossible this year, and it made me a little sad to realize how long it had been since I'd ridden my bike. In fairness, only some of this was the crazy nature of my life, because some of it was just because of crazy nature. It has been so hot and humid here! Excuses aside, I've now set up my commuter bike on the trainer upstairs, so while it doesn't commute much at this point, it does provide a convenient way to exercise without leaving the house. I've also signed up for the 2018 Bike MS: Waves to Wine ride. They offer the option to ride as a "Virtual Rider," so I can train and fund raise as part of Team Menstrual Cycles, and then ride on my own in North Carolina at the same time that my team is riding up the coast of Northern California. I've not yet decided what distance I'll be riding - the Saturday routes in California are either 100, 86, 43, or 22 miles, and the Sunday routes are 63 and 42 miles. So far, I'm up to about 20 miles training, putting really only the 40-ish mile distances in range. Further reports to come.

While I'm training, however, I'd love for all of you to donate to Bike MS! I ride every year in honor of an amazing mentor with MS, with the goal of ultimately reaching a world free of MS. This is my fourth Bike MS ride, so consider donating $40 or $400, and it is the team's tenth ride, so $10, $100, or $1,000 all seem reasonable to me! And if you aren't in a place to donate right now, consider reposting this or passing it along to someone who might be.

I got a new bike-mount for my cell phone and I captured this terrible photo without stopping. I think it might be cool to try to get one from the handlebars each ride, but I already forgot to do it on today's ride... 

This is the moonset in the morning before I catch the bus for work. It's already hot out...