On Today’s Bike Ride: Alt Universe Edition

Black bicycle with blue basket leaning on wooden bridge rail.
Freida looking out over Perche Creek

This week is feeling particularly alternative universe to me, of the dystopian variety in many ways. How could we have time looped back four years and be reliving the nightmare?

On top of that, I received a text alert this morning as I was leaving my house for work telling me not to show up because there was a fire at the building. WHAT? Fortunately, it was small and quickly extinguished. Unfortunately, it was in one of the air handlers of our HVAC system, so that distributed the smoke pretty well throughout the structure, requiring some mitigation.

Bright side – it was a gorgeous fall day with temperatures in the upper 50s. My favorite weather. Might as well take advantage of the surprise day off to get Freida out of the shed and hit the trail, away from news and worries and automotive traffic…

Sign on trailside reads "Caution, construction ahead, trucks may be present, please use caution on trail, please slow down"
A truck was present, driving down the trail.

Okay, trucks on the trail today. I understand it’s for good reason, just unusual.

Still had a pretty good ride and enjoyed the views.

Creek with trees lining both sides. Blue sky.
Wooden bridge over creek, connecting to trail.
Field bordered by trees in the distance.
Bench seen from top with little plaque reading "The Schmidt Family: Ronnie, Karen, Kelli, Ryan, and Robby."
Thank you, the Schmidt family, for this comfy bench!

Things seemed comfortingly normal and natural until I checked for the temperature on my phone screen and saw some news headlines:

News headlines. 1. "This black hole just did something theoretically impossible." 2. "Residents warned after 43 monkeys escape research facility."

Uh, yeah, we’ve slipped into an alternate universe.

~~

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Author: thedamari

I live in Missouri, a more beautiful place than many realize. I love writing, reading, walking, bicycling, and making lists. I’ve written poetry since I was seven. A few years ago I branched out into short fiction and memoir pieces. I also perpetually have a novel in progress. My brain pursues ideas at a brisk pace, wandering all over the map. This blog represents one of my efforts to keep up with it.

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