End of Summer

I went for a bike ride today to Gasworks Park. It was a beautiful day, warm and sunny. It is the end of summer, and I am feeling melancholy. The end of summer is usually a little sad when I think of all of the things I had wanted to do, but didn't. I wanted to go paddle-boarding, or ride a canoe. I wanted to take the Underground Tour. Normally I ride to Gasworks and turn around at the entrance before entering the park. There is a gravel road into the park for bikes, and I fear the transition from pavement to gravel to grass to pavement again. I fear my bike slipping, though I've done it countless times before. I bike into the park, sit by the steps, and look out over the water into downtown. It is a little hazy since it hasn't rained in ages.

At the beginning of summer, I couldn't ride my road bike. I rode to UW and back, and I was exhausted. Today I rode to Gasworks like it was nothing. I felt fine.

I felt like I missed summer because in many ways, I did. At the beginning of the summer, I couldn't paddle board, canoe, or do the Underground Tour. Now, I probably could do all of those things.

How quickly I forgot how disabled I had been.