Looking Up

Why do we never look up? Are we conditioned not to notice things above us? At work last night, someone pointed out a little crack in one of the ceiling corners of the side room. I spend between 20 and 30 hours a week in that restaurant and had never once glanced up at the ceiling! I suppose that's why we spend our time decorating the walls and surrounding aesthetic rather than the ceiling... I do look up at the moon every night when I walk out to the storage shed, though I couldn't find it last night. It wasn't a new moon so I guess it changed position in the sky? Is this because of daylight savings? Someone pls explain because I've never really understood that. 

As always, I ramble. 

So, looking up. Quite by accident, I ended up with a creative little recording today. I wanted to time-lapse my bike ride, but my phone holder blocks the outward camera and since I wasn't particularly interested in a timelapse of my face, I pointed my phone screen upward and pressed record. It was lovely! I really enjoyed just being able to see the sky and trees above me on the screen (while also watching for cars, joggers, bumps, etc.) I would love to ride around actually staring upwards, but I don't think I'd survive very long... Maybe that's why we don't walk around looking up???

Anyway, I always complain about fall in Texas because there just aren't many leaves changing on campus, at least not compared to the Southeast; however, I think I just needed a perspective shift to appreciate the leaves here. They weren't just brown, green, or yellow, but a kaleidoscope of shades with sun shining through, dappling the light and and splashing colors across the sky. Air currents ruffled through leaves and I could feel my momentum-created breeze around me while I road. It was quite a joyous and wonderful experience. 

Please appreciate these time-lapse segments (the full recording was too big to download) which I almost wish I could slow down, so you could appreciate it at my biking pace like I did.

Ending note: I biked one of my running paths that uses the cut through between the edge of the Colonial Country Club neighborhood and University St. It's a tunnel of trees that block out the light and tints everything green on a winding steep-as-heck incline (decline?) that always reminds me of mountain roads in Highlands, South Carolina. Zooming down on a bike was both exhilarating and slightly terrifying (considering the amount of blinds in the twists and the thought that speeding cars could appear at any moment... also my bike doesn't have the best brakes if we're being honest.) I lowkey breaked the whole way down and was still going the fastest I've ever made it on my little blue, basketed-bike from highschool. I'm more of a leisurly-coast-alongside-the-Trinity-with-a-picnic-and-polaroid-camera-in-my-front-basket sort of biker than one of the professional looking old men on fancy road bikes that you see all over Fort Worth. 

Once again, I ramble.

ANYWAY, the point of this end note was I realized I would have to go back UP that incline, which, while hard, I'm able to do by slowing my run to a jog (+ some walking depending on how far I've already run at that point). On a HEAVY bike with WHEELS, physics made that a whole different story today. I would just like to say that even after picking a longer, more winding route to traverse back up the incline I just about died coming back up. So my bike ride to day featured 2-3 miles of casual, contemplative biking while watching the color-shifting leaves above me, then 3 winding miles of puffing, breaking, maxing out my heartrate, getting passed by a little old man puttering by at sloth-speed while holding weights, guzzling my liter of water, and shamelessly stopping to walk my bike at one point. 

So, the point: MAD RESPECT for you people (@John) who bike like 70 miles at once with obscene amounts of incline??? Because I really thought I was gonna die a few times on my 5-6 miles of moderately-hilly neighborhood.

Subpoint: It really is a lovely day, and I would highly recommend heading outside if you haven't already today! The weather has been truly beautiful the past week (the only non-dumpster-fire part of the past week up the friday for me) and it makes me really happy. 

Whatever you have going on, I urge you to look up (figuratively and literally) sometime this week, and I hope it brings you the joy it brought me today! (minus the almost dying at the end)

That is all!