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This rainbow came out this morning after rain poured all night long.

In Return of the King, as Gondor was seemingly on the verge of being overtaken by the armies of Mordor, Gandalf comforted Pippin with this description of heaven:

…the journey doesn’t end here. Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The grey rain curtain of this world rolls back and all turns to silver glass. And then you see it… white shores, and beyond, the far green country under a swift sunrise.

Looking forward to a bright New Year. I wish you all the best.

It was drizzling as I was doing my usual one-man Critical Mass trek to work this morning. Thanks to my new bright yellow poncho, I kept myself and my backpack dry. I had to wipe down my bike, however, before bringing it in the office.

Obtaining the poncho in preparation for the rainy season was a smart thing for me to do. I’ve done a few inane things, however, when it comes to biking. A couple of weeks ago, I attempted to use my cell phone while on my bike. As soon as I hit a bump, the phone flew out of my hand and landed on the hard asphalt, rendering it useless for a couple of hours. Then last week, I rode my bike at night without the proper light beam attachment. Halfway to my destination, I incurred a flat tire. Upon close examination, thorns had pierced the back tire in two places. I’m giving up biking at night altogether, with or without proper beams.

Hey, a whole week without a blog entry. Lately I’ve been obsessing about my new mode of transportation. It has definitely made my commute easier. It’s compact, energy-efficient and convenient. It’s a…bike! A folding bike by Dahon, to be exact. I can take it on the train and on the bus with me. It’s a great conversation starter. When I took an Amtrak train this past Saturday, the conductor liked my bike and asked me where he could get one. He needed a means to get around Sacramento during his two hour layover. I referred him to Dahon’s website. He in turn let me have a free ride!

This bike also gives me a nice cardiovascular workout. I bike about 3 miles each way to and from the train station. On my last yearly check-up, my doctor asked me if I exercised regularly and I said no. But now I can confidently say that I do. And with gas prices rising past $2.00 a gallon, I feel I definitely made the right move (not that I had a choice). The only problem is the weather forecast for the next couple of days here in the Bay Area is rain! Yikes.