Pink Clouds & Silver Linings

For several days last week Whatcom County had severe wind storms, not too much rain, but gusts of wind up to sixty miles an hour. At night sometimes the wind roared so loudly it drowned out the sound of the freight trains passing through town, and blew steadily for hours in the 35-45mph range.

But Tuesday, on my way to class, I noticed the air felt mild and soft, like spring. Buckets of tulips and daffodils have appeared outside the grocery stores. This afternoon the sun shone for a few hours, though there were dark grey clouds on the horizon. Mount Baker appeared pink and white before sunset.

So I registered for the Red-Bell 100, a century bike ride in late June, that starts at Marymoor Park in Redmond and finishes in Bellingham. It's a fund-raising ride sponsored by Cascade Bicycle Club, to benefit bicycle education programs for local young people, and World Bicycle Relief, an organization that provides bicycles to poor people in rural Africa.

That will be one item off my "places to go/things to do" list.