Books, Breads and Bikes: July 2020

"And you wanted to be my latex salesman."

What can I say, it's been a minute.

Five months? Six months?

It's not like a bunch of stuff could have happened in that time, right?

Ha ... anyway I am alive and well, getting through the pandemic, the civil unrest, the usual accoutrements of not owning a car, riding a bicycle into disrepair, keeping my head on straight and finding employment.

I was furloughed, like a lot of Americans, and re-hired a week before George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis; eventually the National Guard arrived and this year of unprecedented surprises rolled on as if it was all scripted.

In April I rode a hair over 1,000 miles - I broke another derailleur hanger on a cold and snowy afternoon ride on Easter Sunday, and spent a week getting my 2012 Felt F75x back into ridable condition, only to mistakenly replace a Campagnolo chain without using the master pin ... for those who are not familiar, that led to some problems and I would not recommend it.

After the temperature warmed up a bit and it stopped snowing, there was some good fishing; during Minnesota's lock-down, I tied over a gross of flies, ranging from big wooly buggers and deceivers to itty bitty bead head flash back pheasant tail nymphs. So far they have all been productive, except the deceiver patterns, which I improved slightly with a secondary size 12 hook tied to the bend of the size 6 hook carrying the body of the fly.

The hottest days of summer have come and gone, and hopefully there won't be a lot more 90 degree days with 70 percent relative humidity. On my bicycle commutes I see more and more tents in the city parks and green spaces of Minneapolis, and I try to be grateful for the living situation I have, such as it is.

While getting tested for the Corona Virus today, (I have no symptoms but after working for the past six weeks I thought it might be prudent), I listened to the memorial service of John Lewis. Between all of the people talking about his origins and influence on people, I was constantly struck by the courage he had to continue his march to Montgomery.

"You have a moral obligation, a mission and a mandate to do what you can to help make our own country, to help make the world, a better place."

RIP John Lewis