Fifty and Still Counting

Fifty Cycling Sights

I’m an ordinary girl who owns three bikes. A road bike, an around town bike, and a very fun to ride short cargo bike.My favorite of the three is my road bike who I named Heron. I also love riding the cargo bike, which has two names – the Green Machine and Kermit – because it’s green and who doesn’t love Kermit the Frog?

Kermit (my second favorite bike) and I at a music festival

Yes, just like pets and kids, I play favorites with my bikes. At any rate, what I really want to share are the fifty-plus scenes I’ve witnessed while cycling in and around this town called Norman, OK that I’ve lived in for almost five years.

Ready? Put your helmet on and let’s go for a ride. Watch out for:

A man walking in front of a new housing development wearing nothing but his tighty-whities; a pair of roadrunners; a family of armadillos; non-native deer; animal control and police cars lining the road where the non-native deer live (a bust in action – the deer and other exotic animals were found to be kept illegally and in poor condition); turtles, smashed and alive; a wood duck; longhorn cattle; a white horse giving birth; a scissor-tailed flycatcher that flew with me for about half a mile; some deer that ran alongside me for about a quarter of a mile; cars in ditches; a boy trying to skateboard on a long, gravel driveway; downed telephone lines; coyote; fox; and fifty-three million gazillion wildflowers covering roadside ditches and entire fields.

Okay, I know that counting the wildflowers is cheating but I can’t help it. They are absolutely gorgeous. Seeing red and yellow and orange and blue and purple burst out of the earth in unison makes me so ridiculously happy.

As does watching Kermit take a spin through the flowers on my favorite bike.

To those of you who allowed fifty-three million gazillion wildflowers cover your fields and ditches, know that it made a very positive difference to this ordinary girl. To everyone, know that even though I say I favor Heron, I really do also love Kermit. He is, after all, the best muppet ever.

Aside from lovable, furry old Grover, of course.

Foiled by Tay-Tay

June 4, 2023 – a Sunday afternoon in Chicago

Ideally, this blog is a place where all things fifty-plus and fabulous will be discussed. Aging, job-hunting, parenting, dog-walking, beverage sampling. All good things, right?

This inaugural post discusses a major event that is affecting my life in a very immediate and adverse manner.

I asked when I booked the hotel room. “Why can’t I find a room for Friday and Saturday nights?”

“Taylor Swift” was the response. “She’s here Friday and Saturday. You should be good for Sunday.”

Now I know the phone attendant got it wrong. I didn’t think to check Tay-Tay’s schedule. I have troubles enough navigating myself. Like the time I woke the kids up early and drove them to school. No one else was there. I’d forgotten it was a holiday.

I probably cussed. My kids heard me cuss.

“Guess what?” I told them. “We’re going out for breakfast!”

Anyway, back to the hotel in Chicago. The hotel lobby is full of way more than 50 people. It’s more like a thousand, all waiting to check into their rooms, which is exactly what my daughter and I want to do. We decide to find a place to plug our computers in and work for a bit.

Taylor Swift fans checking into a Chicago hotel

Fifty-plus minutes later, there are still at least 50,000 people in line. We pack up our computers and books. We check our bags in with the valet. We step out onto the Chicago street and start our search for a pierogi dinner.

Hopefully, when we return, the 55,000 Swifties will be at the concert. My daughter and I will then be able to get into our room and rest.