Naked Lunch – Centennial Trail Wildlife

This morning, after downing a banana-mango-strawberry-date smoothie and reading some news sites, I went on a bicycle ride.  And something unexpected happened.  I saw a nude woman walking on the Spokane Centennial Trail.

The river was lovely today, as usual, and I enjoyed the scenery as I listened to a Fahrenheit 451 audiobook playing through my ear buds.  Plenty of folks were out to enjoy the warm, late-winter weather.  Being the considerate goofball that I am, I greeted oncoming traffic with a smile and wave and rang my bell for anyone that I was overtaking.

On the way back, about halfway between Liberty Lake and Greenacres, my brain had trouble deciphering what my eyes were seeing.  Someone was walking toward me.  They appeared to be wearing a flesh toned outfit.  No, it was just tight-fitting flesh toned shorts and halter top.  Ah, wait…  That’s the woman I passed by on the way out, but she has apparently misplaced her clothes!  She smiled a strange smile and our eyes met as I rode by.

Why was she nude?  As I rode past one, and then another item of clothing she had cast off, I pondered my reaction.  It was so incongruous a sight that my only instinct was to be respectful, I guess.  Maybe that’s why I focused on her face?  Was she an artist of some social variety?

It’s surely a sign of growing older that my reaction to this event is almost entirely philosophical.  Right?

Fear and Loathing (and hope?) in Euro peloton – a blog by Mara Abbott.

* I don’t know where my blog is headed.  This is the first post.  At some point, the posts will become personal and reflective, I hope.  Maybe even some fictional stuff.  I don’t know.  Insights from top female athletes interest me, though.  They toil away with little recognition (mostly) and even less money.  Female pro cyclists usually require a “regular” job to make ends meet.  At the same time, my brain asks me, “so it’s an outrage that folks don’t get to ride a bike for a living?”  These professions exist in the most brazen “market” part of the world economy.  If they don’t draw, they don’t get paid.  One brain; two wildly different views.  Phil*

Maybe it’s the same part of me that gets outraged by animal agriculture or the various abuses and cons by business and political leaders.  I’m a casual fan-boy of Mara Abbott, the pro cyclist.  Her cycling career is punctuated by high highs and low lows, like the mountainous races where she excels.  Here is a recent blog post by Mara (from Cyclingnews.com).

Mara Abbott: On eating crow and racing in Europe