End Pavement

Thanks to the Press-Enterprise for pointing out a new exhibit going on now at the San Bernardino County Museum.

[The] new exhibit [...] focuses on the unique geography of inland Southern California that makes the area especially prone to earthquakes, landslides, fires and floods.

Titled “Living on the Edge,” the show explores the scientific reasons for such natural disasters and their relationship to the human population. It details the ways local communities have coped in the past and prepared for the future, and offers pictorial reminders and preparedness hints.

The museum’s website has a full press kit with facts and figures, plus some of the images being displayed.

“Living on the Edge: Natural Disasters in San Bernardino County” runs March 17th to June 24th. I’ll definitely make plans to go see that.

I also want to see how the construction is coming on their new Hall of Geological Wonders, which had the groundbreaking back in February. The illustrations and blueprints look really cool.

When you think of a “cyclist,” probably the first thing that pops into your head is a particular kind of outfit: skin-tight, space-age fabric, and color combinations not found in nature. And that’s not counting the professionals.

It’s probably safe to say that most people on a bike in the world aren’t wearing spandex and lycra.

To that end, a new Flickr group has debuted recently that has some inspirational fashion ideas for the cycling set: Vélocouture.

Smart, stylish, functional outfits worn by transportational bicyclists.

Celebrate the creative re-purposing of “normal” clothes for use as a transportational cyclist. Help popularize the innovative, functional and fashionable garments that are (finally!) being created by pedal-powered fashion-forward folks around the world.

Margaret Atwood (attributed):

“In the spring, at the end of the day, you should smell like dirt.”

It was three months ago, on December 21st, that I wrote a post called “Winter Solstice”, the first post on the site, save one. It’s funny looking back, since the weather was quite similar to today’s, though we’ve had at least one heat wave since then.

The last paragraph talked about the importance of Winter to the other seasons:

Spring would not mean anything if there were no winter. No matter what your particular religious beliefs (or lack thereof), no matter what festivals or feasts or traditions you celebrate this time of year, don’t you think it’s also important to recognize this amazing astronomical event? To celebrate these short hours of light, because they are so precious?

As I write this, the Vernal Equinox is arriving officially, marking the boundary between Winter and Spring. That is exciting to me for a number of reasons, but perhaps most of all because what I was looking forward to in December is again what I’m yearning for:

While I’m looking forward longingly to a season or so from now — to warmer hiking, to baseball games, to the bike training — it’s a good thing to appreciate what’s here already.

I haven’t been on a bike since the accident, nor on a trail. My physical therapy is going well, though, with weight lifting that is slowly increasing. Last week I felt for the first time real progress — feeling stronger rather than just less weak, an important distinction. So those things I was (and am again) looking forward to are closer than ever.

I can’t wait.

Over on my main site Celsius1414, I put up a short post earlier this week about celebrating a particular anniversary last Sunday: “Four years sans smoke”.

I can’t imagine climbing the hills I go up and down, whether on foot or on wheels, and still be smoking. I know some people think they can “hack it” (heh heh), but those two activities are mutually exclusive for me now.

February 3rd, 2007. A couple of hours before my bike accident.

Click for larger. Cameraphone shot. Here it is zoomed in a bit.