Right Now with Ben
What I’m Reading: Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil by John Berendt
Very invested in this book, I love the premise of the author moving to a city and writing about the people they meet. The book is a portrait of Savannah, Georgia and the unique characters, places and culture that exist in the city. The first half of the book or so has the author bouncing around and meeting the different people that make up Savannah, then it turns into a true crime story. Haven’t finished it yet but definitely want to visit Savannah more now than before I started reading.
What I’m Watching: Scandal
This show is quite addicting. I mean sometimes I roll my eyes so hard at the writing and acting that it hurts, but most of the time it’s full of good drama. Definitely a show to unplug your brain and just enjoy.
What I’m Listening To: Sublime
It’s pretty much summer now in North Carolina who needs spring anyway? This state just goes from winter one day to a week of 75 degree plus weather. With summer here I was suddenly struck by the need to listen to Sublime. For some reason we listened to a lot of Sublime during baseball season in high school so whenever the weather turns I’m ready to not practice santeria hang out with Lou dog.
Bike to Work Month?
So supposedly May is National Bike Month. I have never celebrated a Bike Month and normally I would let this news go in one ear and out the other like every other proclaimed day or month, but this year it got me thinking. That could partially be due to Carrboro Alderman Damon Seils‘ daily Bike Month songs:
#bikemonth@eleanoronly: “It’s the only photo I have of that bike on that day / The boys on the F train said that frame was fresh” https://t.co/68KBgJz5cL
— Damon Seils (@damonseils) May 2, 2018
But I think the real reason is that I’ve always imagined myself as a bike commuter. Now it’s never really worked out, between long commutes and not owning a bike, my biker vision was just a dream. Then this last Christmas I was given a bike and yes my level of excitement at that present did make people wonder how old I was.
Now with a bike in hand, this proclaimed bike month is a built in excuse to try out being a bike commuter. So I set a goal for myself, don’t use the car during the work week. Now my work and my home are about 18 miles or so apart, which is a little far to be biking before 8 am in my opinion. Instead what I plan to do is use the bike and the bus to complete the trip and bike to any chores or other stops I have to make during the week.
I’m only on day 2 but it’s been a ton of fun so far. I left work last night and decided to bike to a way further bus stop than I normally do. I grinned and listened to Sublime the whole way. And I even caught up with a bus that I would have missed if I walked to my normal stop. It’s also given me a new appreciation for potholes, yes they are inconvenient in a car, but on a bike they are wildly uncomfortable.
I also have a new perspective on my city, biking through Durham yesterday and today I really got a different look at the city in a way that I never appreciated in a car or on the bus. I now think everyone should try making it to work with a bike (or bus combo) at least once to get that new perspective. Now again this is only day two so who knows how I’ll feel by May 31.
Do you have any bike commuter stories? Tweet them at me! @benkittelson56
