The Raven's Roost

Fox and I have been looking at different places to go bike riding lately. We have the good fortune to live next to a state forest here, so yesterday one of our ideas was to cross the forest between here and there and bike on the logging roads. These aren't perfect or ideal, but they are about as hard-packed as some of the road next to the house. Since it isn't raining much lately, the sandy stretches are very sandy and almost impossible to cross.

Our other trails are actually a happy accident - State Trails. I don't know if other states have these, but near here there are a couple of State Trails that are paved, 12-foot wide paths that follow some old railroad lines. One specifically says it follows an old Norfolk-Southern route. So there's a Palatka-St. Augustine trail and a Palatka-Lake Butler trail, and both trailheads are very close to us. One of them even goes through the nearby State Park, which also, itself, has bike trails. Right now Gold Head Branch is closed, but depending on how criminal we want to be, the gate is pretty easy to just step over. You couldn't drive a vehicle in there but it would be no trouble for a person on foot or with a bicycle to get in. BUT with the Trails open there's not as much need.

So we might head out and try one of those soon too. More adventures to be had!

There has just not been a lot going on this week. That cat poster I shared has earned me over 100 likes, which is an astronomical figure for me. Usually getting likes in double digits is a feat. But people seem to really like the three-eyed six-pawed Sphynx kitty in her cozy blankets and I'm not going to argue with them. :)

The re-opening of the state didn't seem to have had a lot of impact on Middleburg. There were a few more people out, but it was definitely not like pre-virus busy-ness levels. I also scored some toilet paper so WHOOHOO. There are still some other shortages but we're not hurting too badly for food and supplies so long as people don't start panic buying and hoarding again.

This weekend's experiment is making a biga and making pizza dough with it. Biga is a starter, and the essential thing for making breads like ciabatta. Bread flour, water, and a small amount of yeasr to get everything going, and you should be able to feed the starter and store it in the fridge when you don't need it. I'm also thinking about trying to make a chickpea flour "cheese" from a recipe on Vegan Richa. Normally I just buy Chao or something, but with supplies being what they are, they only have a few basic kinds of vegan cheeses at the stores, and no one has Chao's cayenne slices. Since I'm jonesing for quesadillas this sounded like a fun project to undertake.

 I had my first real bike crash yesterday. I am working on learning to turn and corner, so right now I'm playing with balance and steering, trying to keep in a more or less straight line, that sort of thing. Some places are very hard because the sand has gotten dry and soft again, making some areas very hard to keep your momentum in, so there were a few times when I basically just slid sideways - no biggie. Until I got severely off course and hit a tree. Not a big tree, but one covered with those stupid thorny vines that grow everywhere around here! So I just laid there for a moment doing an internal 'system check,' decided I was more okay than not, and slowly began extricating myself from the brambles. I cleaned up my very minor injuries and called it a day. I scraped one elbow, which looks awful because of how much skin was torn off, but is actually a pretty shallow wound, have scratches up my left arm and on my hand, and yesterday was having minor muscle pains in the left leg, probably from tensing up and then falling on it, IDK. But this morning I was all right when I got up (scrapes and cuts aside) and after my morning yoga I don't really feel any muscle or joint pains.

So like the very stupid and very persistent person I am, I'm going out again today. But hopefully I won't be examining any plant life close-up.

I guess I should think about getting a helmet.

 I'm considering doing a supply run Saturday. Again, not low on much except fresh produce, and I'll be topping off other things like cat food, some canned goods, flour if I can find it. I'm pretty sure you've all seen the idiots beating the drum to "re-open America" and I know we're going to just Leeroy Jenkins it. But Fox and I are going to continue staying home as much as possible and keeping contact to a minimum. I understand people want to get back to work because they've been living paycheck to paycheck, and no real help is forthcoming. I also worry about governmental overreach and loss of the freedoms we still have. But I also don't want to go spreading deadly viruses around, either. So when you see me making fun of the "re-open" crowd, I mean the people who just want to go to Bass Pro Shop, or who've been stockpiling dried beans and ammo for decades getting ready for "the big one" and are now losing their shit because Baskin Robbins is closed. "I need a haircut!" No, darlin' you want a haircut, there's a difference and it's not one of mere semantics. 

I mean, I've had a MAD craving for Tijuana Flats these last few days. Florida peeps know what I mean - gotta get some of that Slap My Ass Sauce. ;D I wonder if they're doing curbside take-away. Hmmm. 

 I have been threatening for a long time now to acquire and learn to ride a bicycle. So yesterday, with Fox's input on bike choice and his blessing, I did precisely that. Well, I bought the bike but haven't quite got the knack of riding yet.

I know being an adult who doesn't know how to ride puts me in a pretty small minority, and though it's a non-essential skill it's still something that's always kind of bugged me. So when I started thinking it might be cool do complete a triathalon - a sprint distance obviously, since I'm not exactly ready to head to Kona - I decided I was going to at some point learn to ride a bike, even if it killed me. Which is a possibility.

I spent a lot of time yesterday out here on our road trying to learn. This section's made of sand and asphalt millings, so it's "smoothly bumpy," and while not as smooth as a paved lot, it's also not as rutted out, bumpy, and treacherous as the all-sand sections. So I started out just pushing myself with my feet, then got the hang of gliding with my feet up. I now mostly remember to use the brake instead of my feet and only fell once. However, I was also using a lot of muscles in new ways and those body parts finally started to complain very loudly about this mistreatment. Eventually soreness and fatigue won out and I packed it in for the night. I really wanted to get up and try again this morning despite being stiff and achy when I got up because I felt like it had almost clicked! But it's a rainy day so no bike, no lawn mowing. Meh.

Fox says it took him close to a week to learn to ride well, and that he thinks I'm doing good. He's been really encouraging, which I appreciate. And he also learned on the brick-paved street where he lived, so he's familiar with the difficulties of an uneven surface.

There obviously hasn't been anything else going on this week. All the rain has made some of my wildflowers start blooming, I got another seed tray started after swamping the last one, and for whatever reason there have been a lot of snakes. Last week we started seeing a young Pygmy Rattler hanging around the front deck, then yesterday I spotted a Florida Cottonmouth on the road near here. We're starting to spread some repellent around where we walk. I don't mind snakes, but with the venomous kinds it's a little different. I'd prefer they go do their snake business elsewhere. 

My basil plants are getting large enough for me to make basil lime noodles, and there's a Thai basil that came up in the compost. I can't remember if I tried to plant one last year or if this is just a volunteer. I might have bought a sack of Thai basil at the Asian grocery and a flower spike developed into a plant. Speaking of which, Jax Oriental Market took over the gyro shop and liquor store next to it, and has really spread out. The aisles are nice and wide, and there's a big food service/restaurant supply area on one side, and a much bigger produce section. I was able to find the Golden Spoon Brand of udon Fox and I like, as well as stocking up on some things that are weirdly lacking in Middleburg. (Soy sauce? How the heck am I supposed to get through an apocalypse without soy sauce?) I bought a big bag of baby bok choy, which in the past I've been able to very reliably re-grow from the root ends, so we'll eat on those several times. They had white birch mushrooms, garlic chives that I use in place of ramps, and pure red miso. The miso I bought online recently when it arrived turned out to awase, which is a blend of red and white. The pure red miso is a stronger flavor and good for stews and braises. There's a nabe I like with tofu that I'll be making with this stuff. It also normally has ground pork in it, but I find it's excellent with beluga lentils.