Happy Monday

Weather forecasts are stormy for the rest of the week, so I took Monday off for a late season ride to Blaine and Birch Bay, with a stop for lunch at my new favorite Mexican Grill, where I enjoyed my new favorite fish tacos, with an americano from the Starbucks next door. It was a fifty mile round-trip ride, probably the longest ride I've done this year, and I came home with a pinkish sunburn across my nose and cheeks.

The hillside beyond the marina is White Rock BC, and the highrises behind the hill (slightly obscured by trees) are in Surrey BC.
It still surprises me to see how much these Canadian border cities have grown since 1995, when I moved to Whatcom County.

Inspiration for the remains of 2020

Sunday evening I bicycled home from work in the dark in a downpour, but that will be my last winter commute for this year. I put in a schedule change request so I will only be working mid-day shifts and won't have to ride my bike. Back in the days when I was broke and working at the airport cafe I found foul-weather night-time bike commutes were challenging and invigorating, but I just can't keep myself convinced of that now. I don't have the endurance for repeated bouts of near-hypothermia, and I've had two painful crashes in the past year. Besides, I'm just not that desperate for a paycheck anymore.

Affordable beachfront living in Birch Bay

Not yet, anyway, but who knows what will become of the job market and what's left of the social safety net.

That's too much pessimism and negativity. It was a lovely ride, just like a normal summer day.

p.s. Beach Drive in Birch Bay was reduced to one lane because of road repairs. That road is usually flooded at least once every winter because of storms and high tides.