Winter Views: An Unusual Christmas

Nearly 60°F and Sunny on Christmas day?!! WHAT?!!

Okay, I couldn't let this slip away without documenting it on the blog, because many years from now I probably won't be able to convince people this happened. I know, well, I'm pretty sure, this has never happened in my lifetime.

Anyway.....

SIXTY degrees on Christmas! WooHoo!

That was my gift I received, and I know many of you folks out there got this gift as well. How could you pass that up? Well.....to be fair, this happened on a day when many had massive plans with friends and family that, frankly, you just do not skip out on. That I understand completely.

However; I don't have that in my life anymore. We had planned on a quiet time at home, just hanging out with the immediate family members. No big hoopla, no tree, no gifts, none of that usual Christmas stuff. I'm not against that sort of thing, but Mrs. Guitar Ted and my daughter's birthdays are within a week or so from Christmas and I never liked putting up a tree or decorating before that. Added to this is our focus on staying away from the consumerism aspects of the season for various reasons, and well, anyway...... Enough about that. Point is that I had free time to get out and take advantage of that weather. So, I did.

Now, I had been out on Christmas Eve on my fat bike as well. That was the first ride I had done in well over a week, maybe closer to two weeks, because I have been battling a head cold since the first of the month. It has finally relented on its assault of my body to the point on Christmas Eve I finally felt up to doing a short ride doing an easy pace. Then on Christmas day I felt as good, maybe stiff though, and decided I just had to hit up some gravel. How could I not do that on such a historic day? I cannot remember ever in my life it being like this on Christmas Day. A good bike ride to soak it all in was in order then.

With the lower angle of light, (the lowest, I suppose), the skies looked more ominous than they were.

Sage Road looking North. The sky changed constantly during the ride.

Mt. Hope United Methodist Church on Mount Vernon Road.

And of course, no ride North of Waterloo is complete without a visit to the Big Rock of Big Rock Road.

It was glorious outside. A little Southeasterly wind, but it was just an awesome chance to get out and ride. I saw a big Bald Eagle not long into my ride that set the tone for the rest of my time out. I tried not to ride too hard, but to just go steady and take a few breaks. I need to be careful not to over-do things after being sick. I have also lost a great deal of my fitness as well. So, that needs to be built back up again. You can lose that fitness fast! Especially when you are sick and cannot really be all that active.

But I was so happy to get out again. It is good for the soul, and I miss the country. I cannot say that I have ridden gravel right around the Winter solstice, as it is usually not all that wise to be out in the whipping winds and sub-freezing temperatures during this time of the year in the country. It isn't pleasant, and it doesn't do much for your fitness or your soul. But this was a complete opposite of that. Really, really nice out there, despite everything being brown, dead, and rather quiet on the wildlife side, despite seeing the big eagle. This was so unprecedented that I needed to document it.

So, despite having all the rest of the year pre-planned on the blog, as far as posts go, I had to slip one more post in. I hope that you don't mind. And, I hope that you all had a wonderful Christmas. Mine was extra special this year.