Even though I had two weeks off from work for Winter Break, when I started up my bicycle commute again this past week (and in LOVELY weather, I might add!), I found myself pushing my legs to pedal faster and faster. By Wednesday, sick of being so sweaty and rushed when I arrived at work, I finally sat down with myself to figure out what was going on.
I was bored. Yep, simple as that. There are only a few ways to “switch up” my ride during the first two miles – after that, I have to ride the same way every single day. So there I was, getting bored by the ride that used to thrill and relax me and turning it into something less pleasant.
The solution turned out to be quite easy: audio books! I’ve never been one to wear my headphones during a ride. I just like to listen to the wind, the birds, the cars when I’m out riding. But I realized it might be fun to try some audio books. I downloaded Barbara Kingsolver’s Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, (which is rapidly rising to the top of my Favorite Books List) from the library and have been enjoying it for the last couple of days. It is amazing how this experience has changed my ride – I now take MUCH longer to get to and from work because I’m savoring every moment of Kingsolver’s beautiful prose and the sight of the beautiful winter sky. No more sweaty arrivals at work! No more boredom! I only hope I can find another audio book as captivating as this one.
I’ll be back next week to talk about the Resolve to Love Challenge and to update you on other aspects of my bicycle commute. I’ve got some great interviews in the works, as well! But for now, I thought I’d leave you with some wonderful Kingsolver quotes:
“If every U.S. citizen ate just one meal a week (any meal) composed of locally and organically raised meats and produce, we would reduce our country’s oil consumption by over 1.1 million barrels of oil every week.”
“Human manners are wildly inconsistent; plenty of people have said so. But this one takes the cake: the manner in which we’re allowed to steal from future generations, while commanding them not to do that to us, and rolling our eyes at anyone who is tediously PC enough to point that out. The conspicious consumption of limited resources has yet to be accepted widely as a spirtual error, or even bad manners.”
“Americans put almost as much fossil fuel into our refrigerators as our cars. We’re consuming about 400 gallons of oil per year per citizin — about 17% of our nations energy use — for agriculture.”
“Finally, cooking is good citizenship. It’s the only way to get serious about putting locally raised foods into your diet, which keeps farmlands healthy and grocery money in the neighborhood.”
amazing how the right touch can reinvigorate.
