Mom, there are cars all around the bike park!!! … Irreverential musings.

Walking through the supermarket aisle on account of the old folks, the son says : “Why are they so slow?” I spurted out the obvious : “Now, think how I feel when I say that of you.”

Grumble mumble, fake anger face, does not let go : “No, but really, they are so slow.”

They are so slow because … their vision is going and in the dark, thread safely for some, or because their memory is going and they wonder what they are doing there or because the world has been confusing since it got colorized, for old old old ones even sound must do it or maybe because in those years, theirs, things went muuuuuuuuch slower anyway and most just catnap discretely in the walker in front of the chips’ rack?

I like to think that they actually go slow on purpose to make the most of what time they have left.

Moving slowly and using deliberation seriously although generally aloof, the legs going too, they turn getting  Cat food, tissues and a detour by the drugstore into a months-long crossing of the Amazonian Rain Forest and little that you know, you played the hunting anaconda! 😎

If you think I’m pushing it and have a friend that can lend you his armor-plated sense of humour, please check Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life and the pirates / accountants!
There is a reason for that and being in bold by the way so don’t come and complain if you’re shocked after the viewing or just then refer to my About Page.

As per our title and amongst other mind-boggling consequences of the Industrial Revolution, we have bike parks to which users drive by car. In town, it concerns BMX and stunt bikes. The building is surrounded by the powerful SUV’s that drop kids as the wagon circle by the Indians! Out of town, it is the mountain bike park of a skiing station with rides up the mountains. Because we now have bikes that only go down? To think the Tour de France has a Best Climber jersey! This is why I favour the ( dual-suspension ) cross-country mountain bike. A good one runs nearly as well as skinny tires in town but shines off-road and goes everywhere a horse would which is a lot ( but roadies keep the distance domain ). Parks with mechanical lifts up or surrounded by cars are recreative equipments. Similarly, when a town begins work on including cyclists, they often develop recreative cycling paths. I witnessed one, a magnificently paved serpent of cycling joy, joining nowhere to nowhere except that at one of the nowheres, there was a huge parking lot that sprang to life on the week-end as people supposedly dressed as either super heroes or spermatozoids but with dismal success unloaded race machines from the car’s bike rack for 40 – 45 minutes of intense effort driving 35 minutes each in and out of it? Word to cities : For every kilometer or mile of bike path  just to ride for fun, build 2 that protect cyclists going to work or the market. That way, the number of cyclists will rise faster. Because you don’t get to love bikes forever from eight 30 minutes rides per summer.

Talking about bike paths, say you usually cringe when pedestrians impinge but you decide to wait instead because that posterior is worth admiring, is that sexist? Hum, thought so! And does it matter if you are a male checking out a female or a female a watching male? Or other set-ups as per your sexual orientation?

It’s all very confusing!

If the Republican Party votes down immigration reform, in a Nation of immigrants no less, who will be left? I mean blacks vote against them and now so will likely hispanics. At the last elections in november last, the GOP got a majority in men, white and old folks ( the older the more votes )! Not only are those very old people not reproducing as fast as younger ones but they are also croaking at a higher rate, you know? Besides, old white men? I seem to remember that from somewhere or was it a joke? An electoral base of less than 33% of the Nation is like beginning the football season hoping for a couple wins or the school year aiming for a D average, not a true winner’s attitude.

Seated in the grass, the bike at my feet, I had a large view of the park.. but my attention went to the burning mahogany spot in the deep shade of the huge tree. No one else looked at it. So while the kids overheated on the activity block and parents on the surrounding benches uneasily shifted as discomfort rose, I thought of Pierre Desproges : “The more I know humans, the more I love my dog.” That Irish Setter never moved and never took its eyes off its kid … in a hieratic pose worthy of a temple entrance yes … but in the shade ‘cause it’s hot.

Then at the produce store, why was the young lady flabbergasted? Her cash register said 6.45$.

My offering was a ten bill, a one coin, a quarter and two dimes. Was it because there was money on top of the bill that was clearly more than the price? Just disregard it as I disregard moaning out loud on the education system and punch the 11.45 in, please. The machine and I have figured it out. Because if you slow us both down, either I get a cut on your meager salary for the lost minutes or I’ll have to tell my son I have the proof he made a hasty generalization, on your account?

grmblgrr, Tay.