Stormy Weather and a Giant Revolt

It's the 25th of September and we still have hummingbirds at our feeders. I think they're juvenile offspring from the adults that returned in early May. I've read where the adults fly south in early September while the juveniles will stay around a little longer. I usually use a mixture of 1 part sugar to 4 parts water in our feeders but as of a few weeks ago (based on a recommendation I read online), I've been adding just a touch more sugar as a high octane mixture to fuel their flight south. Each day they remain seems like a bonus day especially considering how much cooler our nights have become in the past week since a cold front and an associated line of severe weather came through leaving in its wake a lot of storm damage a half-hour south of us.

The squall line spawned several tornados in addition to straight-line winds ahead of it and wreaked havoc on Northfield and nearby communities. Keith and Tracee lost several trees while many other trees on their property sustained considerable damage. They were fortunate though because it could've been so much worse for them. Their home was spared any damage. Many others couldn't say the same. Here's a photo I took of a farm less than a half-mile north of their home.

I've found my next bike. Tammy and I were bumming around the city of Chaska a couple weeks ago and happened to park on the street in front of the new location of Michael's Cycles. How convenient, I thought. I made a quick stop inside to check their inventory of gravel bikes. (I've been lusting after a gravel bike since last spring.) They didn't have many in stock but Austin was happy to show me what options they had available to them online. One bike in particular stood out. It had the component group I'm desiring and it filled every other square I had on my list of must-haves. It's a Giant Revolt Advanced O, and the charcoal color also works well for me, especially when it's covered with a layer of gravel road dust! The bike won't be available until mid-December but I'm in no hurry. I've always lived my life with the thought that good things in life are worth waiting for.

Here's a review of the bike.

We spent Sunday at the Renaissance Festival. We weren't there 30 minutes before I had a run-in with a knee-high trash can, leaving a nasty mark on my shin. We'd just finished watching this attraction and I was looking back over my shoulder as we walked away. The shortish trash can was out in the open but because I wasn't watching where I was walking, I hit the lip of it hard with my left shin, infecting the wound it made with an assortment of nasty germs. Within a matter of seconds, someone on staff was tending to my bloody gash with a first-aid kit while they summoned a human-powered taxi to take us to their main first-aid station where they did a more thorough job of cleaning and dressing my owie. I'm on blood thinners so I tend to bleed quite a lot before it eventually stops. We were back out among the masses in a matter of minutes.

It's been 8 days since I've been on any of my bikes but I'm not suffering any withdrawal. My golf clubs are taking up the slack. The ride below was the last time I was on my bike. I did a longish (for my fat-bike) loop down to the river bottoms and back. What began as a beautiful sunny morning turned nasty by the time I exited the trails. I worked as hard as I could in the last hour of my ride to stay ahead of the storm. Fun stuff!

That's all I've got.