I may not always be fully prepared, but I am always ready for what the day may bring. I didn’t think I could stay away long. Caleb and I went for a 40-mile ride and the last few miles really made our butts tired. I got a picture of an alligator in the wild only ten feet from us. Caleb was going to take his shoes off and walk over, the gator was still young, maybe 4-6 feet (wrestle-able), but when the gator jumped in himself, Caleb changed his mind. The water was deeper than it looked.
There was a little tower available at the end of the dock we were on. The stairs were sturdy, but the rest of the legs were not so tightly secured. I noticed gator eyes watching us and we left to find a snack spot. We enjoyed donuts, apple fritters, and PBJs. We had stopped earlier so I could have orange juice today too. After lunch Caleb noticed a hawk with a fish in his right claw – I got the picture.
An amazing opportunistic photo day considering after the first ten miles I took the camera off my neck. I need a seatbelt pad or to be wearing a sweater for it to be comfortable. And we got lucky that the 50% chance of thunderstorms only left a bit of rain back home while we were away. We took the dogs to the park to continue enjoying the nice weather and Sparky has a newfound love of frisbees; he will dig at the dirt until it comes up and happily bring it back.
For a third of the country it was Superbowl, whatever number, time, but for us it was time for pizza and beer at the house, sans football. Finished some laundry while waiting for the oven to go off. After eating it was hard to keep my eyes open and we went to bed early. When we move I am planning to ride my bike as far west as I can make it before Caleb picks me up with the dogs and we go the rest of the way together.
I am ready for these practice days. I am ready for what long days the future has. We have a semi-plan that has me averaging from 50-85 miles a day. I might not even make it that far; I will be super tired, but also overwhelmed with what I will be accomplishing. I am also ready to move away from the litter box – ashtray that has become our home. We constantly walk on the sand covering the poop logs and are guided down a single path between crap bombs.
I know apartments have weight limits on dogs and now I know another reason; it’s not just so that big dogs have bigger places to live, but so people don’t walk around thinking there are cows hiding somewhere. I now also know why some people have to use grocery bags and both hands. I enjoy using a doggy bag and one hand to pick up after both of my dogs.
I know there is always negative and positive in the world, but I am ready to live near the more positive – they are cleaner, nicer, and more respectable. I realize they are too busy exercising at fancy clubs, drinking expensive beverages, or taking their kids to the beach to be outside of your house letting their animal defecate wherever they please while they smoke up a pile of ashes in your absence.
When searching for apartments I wish Caleb made half as much. We saw a really nice place when we first moved to Florida. It had hardwood floors, full kitchen with bar area, a desk area, ceiling fans and lights in every room, full size washer and dryer, and I could go on, but as our excitement built even though we were twenty miles from base, the lady told us we make way too much.
I’m ready to live in a more understanding and un-profiling America. There is still too much racialism and stereo-typing going on. Some people might think I like these things, but I have just been exposed to them through friends and enemies eyes and I still clearly see them. How can someone who makes less than us live in something better? This gives me no reason to stride forward for a Hollywood mansion when all I have to do is live nicely off other people’s taxes.
I can have a fancy home, a decently used car with fancy rims and an overly loud sound-system in the back. I can have a free cell phone and change my number every time bill collectors call. I can have free daycare for my many children that I should have stopped having. I can play lottery in hopes that I win and then use my foodstamp card (stamps make it too obvious how poor I am supposed to be) to buy chips and soda; because remember that’s all the poor can afford.
Enough ranting for today. I am ready to move on with my day and I wish that one day others will be more willing to improve their lives and in so doing improve the lives of others around them. This world is a beautiful place but it shouldn’t have to be for just a certain few. Where we rode yesterday, there were groups of bikes, runners, people with children and dogs, and some runners in the middle of the road. All the cars and trucks seemed overly happy to give us the space we needed. So much so, that one car almost hit a runner on the other side giving us space on our side.
Only one truck felt it necessary to pass us honking and cussing while we were on the shoulder, not in the road like we had been previously. When their jealousy overcomes them like that they should ask us questions on how we can help, not insult us for helping ourselves. I’ve been meaning to post for about two weeks that we finally got panniers for our bikes, they cost more than we thought. They add some weight at first, but they are waterproof and carry lots. We got ours from bikebagshop.com
We stopped more than usual this time because there were animals just killing to have their picture taken. Caleb noticed a skilled fisherman in the sky with his catch-in-claw and I was just fast enough to get a photo. I was going to attempt to pet an alligator as he lay sunbathing no more than ten feet away, but when he got startled I realized just how deep the water was and thought he might not be alone. Better to just take pictures and move on. We got to see lush green fields with rich houses next to them and huge houses under construction waiting to be the neighbor. 
We got to see the animals in the sky and water, and people in the street. We felt the breeze in our face and the exhaust in our lungs when an old truck drove by. This is an example of what I expect to encounter with marshes and mosquitoes as I ride west through Florida.
TheJessicaness 