Best-laid plans

I planned to go for a bike ride on my day off. I wanted to check out the Valley Spur trail system near Munising. It took me a while to get going in the morning, but I didn’t have any trouble finding the place. I wasn’t expecting the trails to be sandy dirt – my bike is a hybrid, with tires wider than a road bike but not as big as a real mountain bike. Still, I was getting the hang of it – when I hit a bump. Not even a big bump! But all of a sudden my seat was not angled the way it was supposed to be – it had leaned back, so that the front of the seat was up too high. I even heard it click into place.

I looked it over. I am not that familiar with the mechanisms of my bicycle – my dad has always been the one who does all that. But I could pump up a tire if I had to, and I know how to raise and lower the seat. That just needs to unlock a lever. This, though, was beyond me. I called my dad – luckily I was near the highway still so I had bars on my cell phone – and he confirmed that it would not be something I could fix right then. I would need an allen wrench of a particular size.

I had only gone about a quarter of a mile, so it didn’t take too long to walk my bike back. My ride ended just as it had barely begun! (If my parents weren’t going to be visiting me in just a week, I would have asked around at work if anyone had an allen wrench I could try, or found a bike shop. But since my dad was going to be there in just a few days, I figured I would just ask him!)

Talk about a bummer.

I went back to the house, changed out of my bike clothes, and sat around awhile reading. Suddenly Bill came in the living room and said, “There are sandhill cranes just outside the kitchen window!”

And sure enough, there were!

Two adults, and one fuzzy chick! It kept going back and forth between them, or wandering off on his own. It seemed to be foraging a little, but not quite sure what they were supposed to be doing out there. The parents were digging in the yard – I don’t know what for, but I will tell you – when those beaks stab into sandy soil, they go all the way in!

I was able to take photos through the kitchen windows. It’s a pretty effective blind! I kept watching them for quite a while. It made my afternoon.

Talk about a silver lining.