Wet, Wet, Wet

I woke up feeling bad today because we had a run-in yesterday with a Greenpeace canvasser. We rode our bikes to REI to get a rechargable light for my bike because I have been blowing through batteries with my current one. We also needed a new bike pump as our current one would pop off whenever you got some decent pressure on it. It's a nice ride over their to REI, across the river and along the west side for a bit. We rode past the horses which is always fun. So, we are feeling pretty good when we get to REI and see two Greenpeace canvassers standing in front of the bike racks. Because it takes a while to lock up your bike, we were trapped there having to talk to them. I finally said that I don't give money to people that approach me on the street, but I do give money to environmental charities. The male canvasser says, "Well, do you know about tree topping?" I said no and he says "Well, how do you want us to inform you about it?" "Send me a letter," I said. He says, "But, that uses resources. This is the only way we can do it." Already frustrated I answered, "But, this interferes with quality of life." And, we left and went in.

As we were unlocking our bikes and securing our new bike pump. He says, "Excuse me, did you say I was interfering with your quality of life?" Peter says, "You're doing it right now." And I said, "I just want to be able to ride my bike to REI without being harassed." And he says, "I just care about the environment." I said, "So do we, that's why we are riding our bikes." He says, "But you're still buying things. We're not going to consume our way out of this." And, we rode off.

I do not deal with conflict well. I always feel guilty even if I was totally right, so this morning when I woke up thinking about this stupid conversation I didn't care that it was pouring rain. I wanted to get on my bike. I got all dressed up in my riding gear and Peter decided he wanted to join me.

So, we took off down toward the river, past the submarine at the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry and on the Springwater Corridor. We were virtually alone on the bike path and Peter commented on how nice this was since we could ride side by side. I asked him what it said about us that we were the only ones out on the wet, soggy day. He says, "It says you're antsy and I love you." It was fun to look over and see Peter's bright smile as we made our way down the river. We took a little detour at Oaks Bottom, then rode down to Sellwood park. It was amazing how many leaves were off the trees that I had photographed last Tuesday.

My shoe covers did pretty good. Some rain still got into them from my ankles, but they weren't soppy. When we got home we jumped in the sauna that we had turned on before we left. I felt so much better and happy to have gone for a ride despite it being so wet.