Now with both the kids back home from college, we went for the first hike of this Summer. Forgot to take a photo on the trail but remembered to do it after getting in the car.
Flipped the switch this morning to connect our newly installed solar panels to the grid. Doing our small part to reduce our carbon footprint. Will set up the solar company app this evening and start tracking the electricity these panels generate.
Daughter starting today as a Summer intern in a different department at my workplace. Looking forward to 10 weeks of carpooling.
Yesterday (June 2nd) Lyme Land Trust had organized their yearly fundraising event - Tour de Lyme. The weather was just fantastic with sunny bright blue skies. When I started out it was just under 60F but, was mid-70s when I finished the 58 mile route. As always there was a lot of climbing. I was hoping to finish this in about 4.5 hours but was pleasantly surprised to reach the end under 4 hours. It seems like every year they keep adding more food trucks at the venue. My favorite was the vegan sampler plate at the food truck from a restaurant in Branford, CT. I also had a couple of slices of pizza as I was starving after the ride. Overall, it was a great ride. Can’t recall if this was 10th or 11th but, I have participated in every ride that they had organized over the years.
Sunspot AR3664 that created the fantastic display of Aurora went around the Sun over last 2 weeks and is back. It is reduced in intensity and can be seen at the top left edge. Although it is not likely, I am hoping that it will create more Aurora in coming days. 
My kids always correct me for using these terms improperly.
Poison is a toxin that gets into the body by inhaling, swallowing, or absorption through the skin.
Venomous: it’s when the toxin is injected into you.
This is one of my most favorite spots on today’s bikeride. I have ridden by here in every season and found that it is different yet beautiful every time.
Just realized that today was Bob Dylan’s birthday. Happy Birthday, Robert!!! Thanks for so many great songs!
Went hiking with Ashwini at Ames open space in Old Lyme. After the heavy rain today, there were hundreds of newts out on the trail with many frogs and toads. Spotted about a dozen pink lady’s slippers.
It has become a tradition that around my birthday I go on a bike ride for the same number of miles as my age. This year’s ride was delayed by about 10 days due to various reasons. It was a warm day but quite windy. There was a strong headwind for the last 20 miles or so making it hard.
Tadej Pogacar has been phenomenal in this year’s Giro d’Italia. In yesterday’s monstrous stage, he added 3 more minutes to his already huge lead over Thomas and Martinez. With his main rivals Vingegaard and Roglic out due to injuries, Tadej was expected to win but he is just dominating the race. Looking forward to a very competitive and entertaining Tour de France in July.
Heard on the radio that it will be warm (~70F) this afternoon and I started dreaming about a bike ride but, then the weatherman said the pollen counts are very high. Maybe I’ll still go riding but, take allergy medication before heading out.
I was chatting with my daughter and we realized that we should express some serious gratitude to the Sun for creating two fantastic experiences within the last month that we will cherish and talk about for the rest of our lives. Although we were not together, it still felt really good to talk about the planning before and the joy of experiencing it after the events. It makes it sweeter for her because my son missed both the eclipse and the aurora. Sibling rivalry is still going strong. 😊
For people who are undecided about the US presidential election, life must be really really hard. If they can’t decide between a bowl of vanilla ice cream and a bowl of poop mixed with broken glass, I can’t imagine how much they are thinking and stressing about other not-so-clear-cut choices in life. I feel sorry for them.