Earth Hour and The Zen Bike

Saturday night between 8:30 and 9:30 was Earth Hour or Earth Day which is what I kept mistakenly calling it.

Regardless of the name, we had a few friends over for snacks or maybe I should say hors d'oeuvres which sounds so much more refined than snacks which always reminds me of chips and pretzels. We enjoyed a  bit of the red,  a great crab drip, garlic stuffed olives, Carr's cracker (my favs) and some really old  Balderson cheese.  We were originally supposed to go for a walk but I chickened out because it was -10C and I'm a bit of a baby that way.  We turned off all the lights around 8:00 p.m. and lit the candles and I thought "wow, we should do this more often"..... but we probably won't.  I seem to always have these great ideas but never follow through ... I think there's a name for that but at the moment it slips my mind.

I am getting ahead of myself so let's backtrack to the morning of Earth Hour/Earth Day or perhaps 23 years ago when John and I first got married and lived in the west end of Toronto....Royal York and Bloor to be exact for all you Torontoians.  We used to bike everywhere but most especially downtown as Toronto has some absolutely fabulous bike paths.  Along the way we would stop for a bite to eat or a coffee or whatever as we were young and free which meant we had no kids and no responsibilities to be anywhere at anytime.... fun.  As the years rolled by and kids came along the biking thing kind of fell by the wayside and every so often we'd head out as a family but our days of adventure seeking (anyone who knows me will think that's funny cause I am so NOT an adventure seeker) were waning.  So let's now skip ahead.... are you with me so far???

The morning of Earth Hour/Earth Day we headed into the office as usual but earlier in the week John had been scouting out bikes for us at The Bike Stop in Orillia without telling me.  So we make a pit stop on the way and he shows me the bike he thought would be the "perfect" for vehicle for me.  He called it the Zen bike which was most likely because it appeared to have bamboo sprouts covering it as well as it's name..... The Wasabi.  Anyway,  never being one to take what's given, I test drove a couple different bikes out on Colborne Street wearing my winter jacket, hat and mitts (yes, I was quite the site to see) before it dawned on me that the Zen bike really was the one for me.  It was not a mountain bike or a road bike but the most perfectly comfortable "cruiser".  In the end The Bike Stop made two sales and we were on our way.

The most fabulous seat ever.....made for people who have real bums.....and like bamboo....

Today we headed out for a ride and made it up and down the street a couple of times before the bitter wind and cold sent us back inside for a cup of tea but you must admit our intentions were good.

But hey, spring is only beginning and I can see a lot more rides in my immediate future....at least when the weather heats up to a balmy +5C.

How was your weekend?????