Whitlingham Country Park

John and I picked up a cycling map of Norwich a while ago thinking it might come in handy. This morning I pulled the map out, pointed to the large park on the opposite side of the city from us, and said to John, "I want to go there."

John cycled in the lead and we stopped occasionally to consult the map on the most traffic-free route. On the way we discovered that Norwich has its own ski slopes.

At the park we walked around for a little while reading the informational signs. The broads (bodies of water more shallow than a lake) in the park formed from people mining the area for peat.

We saw the site of wood henge. (The henge isn't actually there anymore.) Now, if there is a stone henge, and a wood henge, my question is: where did the first little pig build straw henge? Since straw doesn't tend to last for a long time, we may never know. If I wanted to get all philosophical I might conclude from this that time is the big bad wolf.

But I digress. There was a cafe in the visitor's center so we had lunch there, cycled around the park, and then came home. John had to do some more fancy navigating because the road by County Hall was very busy due to a football game.

We live in a nice area that is good for exploring on foot or on bike and I really enjoyed the park. I am glad we were able to get out today, even though we will probably be very sore tomorrow.

Another London Trip

John has really wanted to see The Magic Flute for a while. So we saw it and we both enjoyed it and birthday accomplished!

I am a bit wiped out today. John booked us a bargain hotel room which ended up meaning that the "hotel" was sort of half hotel and half residence in what must once have been a dorm. There were people living there. And there were communal bathrooms. We didn't know any of this before we arrived.

But we both laughed it off. This is an adventure! And then, lest we escape irony, my stomach picked this hotel, of all places, to be unhappy. The hotel where the nearest bathroom was on another floor.

I didn't get much sleep and then we walked around all morning until it was time to catch the train. I am looking forward to a bath and uninterrupted sleep.

John keeps talking about The Magic Flute, though. And I can tell he's really happy we got to see it. And that makes me happy.

The Magic Flute

John wanted to see The Magic Flute for his birthday so we are off on a short trip to London. I'll report on our adventures tomorrow!

Happy Birthday to John

Today is John's birthday! We celebrated by going to lunch and a movie (our usual date format these days).

Just to mix things up I also let John buy some electronics. Don't worry, nothing too pricey.

The significance of John's birthday:

I'm not a hard core believer in astrology, but I did like hanging out in the astrology section of the book store when I was a teenager. I am a Cancer, and the books say that the best match for a Cancer is a Pisces. By coincidence (not by my own doing) the only people I have dated have been Pisces. I'm using the word "dated" liberally here, because officially I've only dated one other person besides John. But if I include my junior prom date (who did go with me to the prom as a date) it makes the statistic a little more compelling. Anyway, after the first two Pisces relationships ended I wondered if astrology had let me down. Perhaps a Pisces wasn't for me. Then came John. Another Pisces. What was I to think? Well, I'll tell you what I think. I think the fact that he is on the cusp of Aquarius balances him out. Sort of takes the edge off the less desirable Piscean qualities. (No offense meant to other Pisces. Every sign has good and bad qualities.) So it is very important that John's birthday is on February 25th.

Hibernating

I remember when, over the summers, as a child, once I got into a rhythm of sleeping when I was tired and waking up when I wasn't I would naturally wake up around 8 in the morning. Now I have to set an alarm to get myself up even when I don't have anything scheduled or I will practically sleep all day. I have decided that since I am in a colder climate my body is trying to hibernate.

Although I can turn into a bear in World of Warcraft, IRL I am NOT A BEAR. Do not be fooled.

In spite of oversleeping I did manage to update the website and write a book review.

Can bears do that?

That's what I thought.

I Can Haz Mousecules?

After the novelty of having bikes wore off, John and I went back to walking most of the time. It's hard riding up and down hills, locking and unlocking the bike, bungee-cording stuff in the basket, but mostly - riding up and down hills.

But there is a big difference in the amount of time it takes to get places. It can take 30 minutes to walk down town. And only 12 minutes to bike there.

When I walk down town, then my trip into town is pretty much the only thing I get done that day. But if I bike, well, I still have time to do other things.

So, in the name of time-saving, I've been biking more. The thing is, I just don't use those muscles for anything else. Biking hurts! I keep telling myself that if I keep doing it, eventually it won't hurt anymore. So far that hasn't been true. But someday...someday I will be able to get up a 6 degree incline without wincing.

Hippy Dress

After getting up early the past two days all I felt like doing today was being a bum. Pathetic, I know, but I'm out of practice with that whole being a productive member of society thing.

Here is a picture of me in the retro dress I bought in London. I wore it for the 1960's event at Ancient House. It is a shame that you can't make out the two tiny braids in my hair.




















Peace out!