Bike riding

So, lately I've been riding my bike... a lot. I ride to school pretty much everyday and I love it. I have the route down to about thirty minutes, and it takes me between 15-20 minutes to drive. There has been seldom bad weather this summer. So I've been enjoying the scenery as I ride around.

Part of the reason I am enjoying biking so much is because of all of the time I get to spend outside. I get to look at the St. Paul skyline as I go over the 35E Mississippi Bridge: the cathedral sticking out amongst sky scrappers, and barges shuttling up and down the river. I also get to see a lot of wildlife: deer, eagles, cardinals, falcons, racoons, and dogs off leashes. I also get to see a lot canadian geese, mallard ducks, and some great egrets.

I've been watching the egrets for a while now, and they have hung out around the same sandbar for almost all summer undisturbed except for the few homeless guys that build fires on the shoreline (don't worry, I'm observing all this from atop a bridge). Anyways, about a month ago I noticed some mallards started hanging out on the sandbar as well, but the two species would stand on opposite sides and avoid interacting. After about two weeks of this segregated living, some canadian geese also arrived on their way down south, and wanted to enjoy the sandbar. For a couple of days the three species were all together, but eventually the sandbar became overrun with the common goose, and I have not seen the crane or the mallards since.

The geese are loud, but I love watching them land in the water. They fly in a V-formation as we all know, but when the land, they land in the water at the same time, and then swim behind each other.

Part of spring, summer, and fall, is taking the advantage of getting outside. I'm grateful that I've had the opportunity to ride my bike a little more, so that I can enjoy the world around me... even in the middle of St. Paul.