Bugs, like rain

When I finally got elder daughter tucked in to her ballet class and got off the phone with my press office for my daily beating, I was able to get in a quick ride on the preserve bike path, and was going to be happy with a fast average speed even if I didn’t get to go far. But about 1000 feet past the boat launch, I started hitting the swarms of gnats. Swarms. Listen, I’ve been around rivers most of my life, and I have never seen a hatch like this. Riding through it was like being pelted by hail — since it was dark and gloomy, I didn’t have my wrap-around shades on, so they got in behind my glasses and into my eyes, in my ears, into my hair through the helmet. This went on for three miles out, and three miles back, with periodic stops so that I could see again. Never anything like it. Mercifully, a downpour began, which felt much better, knocked the bugs out of the sky, and let me look up a little as I sailed along. When I got back to pick up my daughter, I was covered in bugs and mud. Very pleasant. So, all in all, not the best bike ride ever. Today, it’s beautiful and I’m stuck in here. Tomorrow and Sunday? Rain. Of course. Hannah runs in the Freihofer’s tomorrow — very exciting, but I’m hoping she won’t have to wear a raincoat.

Huge jones to see “The Wonder Boys” again — tried to rent it last weekend, and the store I use didn’t even have a copy. Well, they had a VHS, but I’m not watching worn-out pan-and-scan when I know damn well I’ve rented it from them before. Their DVD library is very shallow, since the new business model seems to be to get 200 copies of every crappy movie that comes out, and then sell off all the copies as soon as possible, leaving them with no old movies to rent. So, I’m hoping the library has it.

— Mr. Johnson has had his bug protein for the weekend, thank you very much.