So.
Over the next weeks and months, I'm probably going to write here about my wife's and my attempt to get back to the values we started with as a married couple. Ever since we had our two lovely boys, I think we've been sliding away from the course we had charted as we are being slowly but surely co-opted by modern cultural "norms."
For months now, I've had this really positive, hard-to-pin-down feeling that something good is coming. I told Jen then other day that I feel like I'm simultaneously riding many tributaries on the way toward a great river, and that once I hit the main body of water things will be clearer and brighter and better. I think the way to get there -- the way to find the river -- is to take intentional action, not just to be swept along by the current.
One intentional action we're going to take is to severely limit our car usage on the way to eliminating it entirely. I have a car that's provided by my work (as I've written about here and here) and we also own a 2001 Subaru Forester that's a year from being paid off. I think we're going to get rid of our car and park my work car except when I need it for work, which is very seldom. In addition to the workers I represent in downtown Albany, I also represent two hotels in Schenectady. I discovered that it's a fairly easy bike trip to Schenectady if you go straight there, so that cuts out another need for the car. And I can take my weekly trip to Saratoga Springs by train and then walk a mile to the office.
Anyway, I don't have this all fleshed out in my mind yet. But good things are afoot. Positive change is happening. Life is starting to come into focus in a way it hasn't before. And bicycling is part of this new world.
Whenever I want to remind myself about the beauty of the bicycling lifestyle, I ride my bike. And I watch this:
3 comments:
I stumbled upon this blog. I live in Schenectady and work in Albany. The direct cycle route would be down Central Avenue...an extremely busy street where drivers are unlikely to be looking for cyclists. The traffic situation is the one thing that keeps me from biking more.
If you're ever looking for a riding partner, let me know. And be sure to check out FortOrangeCycling.com for Albany-specific bike blogging.
Hey howdy,
I too stumbled here, I think from Large Fella's place. Reading this was a deja-vu, as my wife and I have been traveling the same tributaries over the last year (though we're doing it in the other Washington).
My wife and I (and our 3 and 1 year old) have a Forester as well. Last week, I completed the Xtracycle I've been building for about a month, and we're working the kinks out of our systems and goat trails, making lists of potential outerwear acquisitions, etc.
In the first week, we've knocked Subaru trips down from 3 times / week to between zero and once, and that's ZipCar territory for the occasions where we do need a motor/trunk/roof. I think the trusty and talented Subaru will soon be part of someone else's family.
Great blog, enjoying the travelogue!
Post a Comment