February 15: Low on Baked Goods? It’s Snow Joke!
I don’t remember ever shoveling the snow off my driveway before leaving on a ride. Or navigating around a police blockade on my way out due to tow truck recovery operations in place to remove the last of three cars that crashed at the bottom of the hill outside my home last night. But as I was running low on baked goods, I decided to make the best of it.
Leaving my white-covered neighborhood this morning to the sound of beeping tow trucks and the sight of flashing blue and red police lights, I made it a point to keep an extra eye out for patches of ice or spots of slush and to stick to the main roads. The route seemed relatively clear, and I breathed in the fresh air, grateful for the time on my bike after a relatively stressful week.
As I passed through a beautiful wintery wonderland on my way south to the Creswell Bakery, I took in the sights of stark brown tree trunks and branches on beds on white, dark red barns providing pops of color on sparking fields of snow, and beautiful silvery whisps of fog floating in layers on the foothills around me.
Traveling further south, the temperatures rose, the ground cleared, and patchwork fields of green and brown appeared under the cloudy skies. Chunks of melting snow and ice flew off the cars and trucks around me and traffic sped up. Herds of sheep and cattle grazed placidly in their pastures in the quiet morning air. Birds swooped in the sky above as tiny slivers of blue peered through the darkness, and I wondered if they were celebrating the break in frigid temperatures.
Stopping at the bakery, I collected my four loaves of multi-grain sourdough bread and ordered a bacon and egg ciabatta breakfast sandwich along with a steaming cup of hot water to enjoy on the outdoor picnic tables. The sun broke through while I was eating, and I leaned my face up to the sky, grateful for the warmth and light.
On my way home, a flock of thousands of birds in a beautiful heart-shaped formation almost completely covered the wintery clouds above, and I chortled in glee at the majestic sight. Another great day on the bike!
