Southern Happenings

Having a wonderful time; wish you were here.

This will be fairly short as I'm hunting and pecking on the hub's iPad, but I suppose that's better than typing out a post on my phone. Anyway, I have traveled the Greater Memphis Greenline from its farthest point in Germantown to its unceremonious terminus on the edge of Mid-town and east Memphis. The eastern end is absolutely gorgeous with scenic overlooks of the Wolf River and little "learning areas" about the aquifers, local flora and fauna, and history of the Wolf River. The section through Shelby Farms was also picturesque but that trail is in the open unlike the Wolf River's tunnel of trees. The Memphis Greenline proper picks up next to the prison (whee) and continues a straight, tree-lined path next to the north loop of I-240 for about six miles.

I took dozens of pictures during yesterday's short jaunt and today's 20 mile trip to my friends' home in the Cooper Young area (I would have made my goal of cycling to my sister's house, but she wasn't home). Unfortunately, photos will have to wait until I'm reunited with my laptop.

There are a few things I noticed during yesterday's and today's rides. Everybody is ~so~ friendly. Of the hundred or so bikers, joggers, and walkers I passed or overtook, all but a handful smiled, waved, or gave a verbal greeting. Welcome to the south. :) Also? It's ~so~ flat. That's great because there are few hills to climb and that sucks because there are few hills to coast down. I giggled when I saw warning signs for slippery switchbacks -- these signs are plentiful on the Mount Vernon Trail the farther south you go -- but the switchbacks here were gentle and mostly flat curves. Bless.

One of the more fun things to happen today was meeting Cort of FIX MEMPHIS while shopping for a new saddle for my friend Scott at the Highland branch of Peddler Bike Shop. The clerk and I geeked about Memphis' burgeoning bicycle infrastructure and I mentioned I'd been keeping up with the growth via several blogs. He asked which ones I read and I rattled off several of the blogs in the "Memphis Area Blogs" sidebar. He put his hand out and introduced himself. That was pretty damn cool. So, if you've found my blog, hi Cort!

Oh and one more cool thing: I won a Six Corners Wristlet from Po Campo because I posted a picture of the new bike with Po Campo pannier and purse on their Facebook page. Hee!

On the road

Scott and I are mostly out of pocket this week while visiting family and friends down south. We're spending the first half of the week in Memphis and the second half in NW Alabama. We are taking our bikes and looking forward to, weather permitting, exploring the Greater Memphis Greenline which includes the Wolf River Greenway -- which is fairly close to Mom's neighborhood -- and the Shelby Farms Greenline. Ultimately, I'd love to ride from Mom's house in Germantown to my sister's house near the Cooper-Young district. I don't know if that'll happen this trip since we're looking at this for the next five days.

Ouch.

The second half of the week will be spent at my folks' vacation home on Pickwick Lake in NW Alabama. It's close-ish to the Natchez Trace Parkway which is apparently a "designated bicycle route", whatever that means. I've never been on the Natchez Trace, even in a car, so this will be a new adventure. I do hope we'll be able to drag ourselves from the lake and/or terrace hammocks for a ride. Since it's supposed to be in the lower 90s -- whoo hoo, break out the fuzzy wool and flannel! -- during the second half of the week, we may actually hit the road. I hope to have lots of photos when I return. Scott may even provide some GoPro video as well.

Whirlwind trip home (with a tiny [and I do mean tiny] bit of bikey stuff)

I took an impromptu trip to Memphis for my great aunt's funeral which, despite the reason for the trip, was pretty enjoyable. Scott B retrieved me from the airport and spent most of Tuesday evening visiting with me, Mom, and stepdad Pete. Wednesday was Aunt Bernadine's memorial service in Arkansas and one couldn't ask for a more beautiful day in which to be in a cemetery. I saw a lot of family members whom I haven't seen since childhood and even met a few cousins who were born after we moved to Tennessee.





Family plot in Forrest City, AR.
The graveside service was brief and touching. The church dinner was filled with amazing food. As I posted to Facebook, there is nothing like a church dinner featuring fried chicken and fried okra made by good Christian women. Between the dinner and the celebration service, Mom, my sister Mimi, and I drove around Hughes trying to remember who lived where and mourning the deterioration of the tiny farm community.





Papa and Gram's headstone.
The celebration of my great aunt's life was quite beautiful. We learned a lot about Aunt Bernie that even Mom didn't know. Family members shared amusing and touching anecdotes about her and most everyone left the service feeling peaceful.





My great-grandfather's (Daddy B) memorial window at Hughes United Methodist Church.
Mom suggested I ride home with Mimi so we'd have time to visit. I hardly ever get to spend much time with my sister and we both enjoyed the time together. Mom stopped to visit former coworkers when we reached downtown Memphis while Mimi and I continued on to her house in midtown where we held an impromptu happy hour on her front porch. After a couple glasses of wine (her) and a couple of wine coolers (me), I set to work doing a bit of maintenance on her bike while she and Mom strolled around the block with my nephew Bear on his tricycle.

Thursday was Mom's and my day to play and we shopped like we had money. She's lost a bit of weight and wanted some jeans and slacks that fit. She found the slacks (and I found some dresses and shirts) at Dress Barn and then she hit the jeans jackpot at Kohl's. Good gravy but my mom has legs that go all the way up. She strolled out of the fitting room in a pair of jeans that took 35 years off; I swear that she looked like she did when I was a little kid. It took some cajoling and pushing until she finally saw in the mirror what I saw.

We got home in time to play a game of Scrabble -- I beat her like a baby seal -- before heading out to celebrate my brother David's birthday at his favorite sushi restaurant. David and I are seriously cheap drunks but we can, thankfully, hold our sushi.

The thunderstorms promised all week finally arrived Friday morning just in time for my departure. I'm normally a fairly calm flier, but while I donned my warpaint that morning, the Today show ran a story about the dangers of planes being struck by lightning. Fantastic. I phoned Scott to tell him I loved him, just in case, and sat back for the bumpy ride out. The plane made it safely to sunny Charlotte, NC, and arrived in drizzly Dulles, VA, on time.