Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater
The perfect end to an imperfect day (or, Fall is Here!)
Today started poorly: at 7:30 am, with a phone call from work. "Sorry to call so early, but we have a P1 case you're responsible for." Grimacing through the haze in my brain, I said, "What's broken?" The guy said something along the lines of "According to this email, flooblejabble and spiffnorgle are missing." I had no idea what he was talking about.
I agreed to look into it after he promised to send me email with the problem files. I looked into it. Turns out it wasn't my problem, in that I could do nothing about it, but it was my problem, in that I was still responsible for it. So, that was pretty much my Friday. It was, shall we say, taxing.
I'd arranged with my friend Jesse to go somewhere for dinner. We didn't really figure out where we were going until after I'd left work, and we came around to the idea of Pete's Grill and Pub, in Carnation. This is a bit of a ride, but we were both in the mood for it.
The ride out ended up being rainy and difficult due to twilight visibility plus rain plus fogging helmet shields. We made it without trouble, but we were both more pleased to be at the restaurant than that we'd ridden there. Normally, the reverse is true.
We passed several pleasant hours at Pete's, discussing all sorts of things we haven't had a chance to talk about much due to full schedules. Eventually, long after the food was finished and the bill paid, we were ready to head back.
The evening had gone from soggy to dry, although there was still a heavy overcast. The temperature was pleasant, neither warm nor cold. There was a bit of bite to the air, pleasantly foreshadowing autumn days to come.
We set off, following the same route we'd used to get there. However, this time, there was a huge difference. For one, it wasn't raining, but mostly, it smelled like fall.
For whatever reason, fall is the one season that makes me absolutely giddy. I love everything about it, although I can probably trace a lot of my joy back to (nerd alert!) going back to school. Whatever the source of that happiness, tonight was full of it.
As we wound up the Snoqualmie Valley, the cool night air was scented with the smells of summer retreating before the cold. Vegetation was changing, and the recent rain had unlocked a kaleidoscope of smells.
The most prominent, to me, was the smell of the ferns cracking their knuckles and getting down to business. You other plants, you summery, sun-loving plants? You can back off. It's my turn now. That's what that smell said to me. Don't get in the way of those ferns.
It also brought other smells: falling leaves, just starting to turn red and orange; damp soil, claiming back the ostentatious growth of summer; sluggish rivulets and creeks; pine and fir trees shaking off the doldrums.
There's a particular aroma to fall, and I only ever smell it in Woodinville, where I grew up, and which we passed through this evening. I think Woodinville must exist in a particular microclimate that fosters some odd subset of plant life. Whenever I go back there, I can smell it, like a salmon finding its way back to the tiny tributary where it spawned. It's the smell of home, and the smell of happiness.
Finally, on the far side of Paradise Lake Road, the scent dwindled, and faded in the face of the freeway. Still, for those glorious 20 minutes, Jesse and I were riding through our own personal versions of complete happiness. We compared notes later, it's really true.
Now that is a great way to end a crappy day.
Posted at 01:00 permanent link category: /motorcycle
Categories: all aviation Building a Biplane bicycle gadgets misc motorcycle theater