Signal to Noise

Wednesday afternoon was a great time to go biking. There is nothing better to beat my blasé attitude out of me in the middle of UPEI’s reading week then to hop onto a tandem bike with Dave and be propelled around Charlottetown on a beautiful warm-ish winter day. The streets were free of snow (though the amount of traction sand and run-off water was impressive) and car traffic was very light. A little over an hour later we finished our ride covered in damp sand–me taking the forward soaking and Dave with the telltale stripe up his back. Grit-filled satisfied grins all around. Thanks to Dave I have been biking in the first two months of this year.

As it turns out, the very next day I learned that “[c]ycling advocates in Charlottetown, including the Medical Society of P.E.I., are upset accommodation for bicycles is not part of a $5-million expansion of Riverside Drive“–and this was one of the very same roads on which we were biking the day before. Of course, given the limited number of roads into and out of Charlottetown, it was hardly a surprise that we would be biking on one of the access roads. The only other cyclist we met on our ride was biking from Stratford and into town on Riverside drive. It is not the most direct route to the heart of the city but it is the most scenic and the relative lack of traffic is a benefit to anybody on a bike.

Rather than comment on how biking is great and more bike lanes and paths would be good for Charlottetown (well, maybe I will comment on it by saying I will not comment on it) I simply note that I am raring to get back to work and am planning on how I can bike in every month this year. Time to get back on the rollers for a while and hope for a warm and clear day in March.

The Noye family, inspired by a man that I smell like (and without needing two tickets), Jan and I and the girls went out to Orwell Corner Historic Village yesterday to partake in the Orwell Corner Winter Fun Day. The writeup in the local paper suggested that we could

Visit with farm animals, go sledding, make snow taffy, help Blacksmith make a nail, horse and sleigh rides (weather permitting), plus traditional indoor board and card games. Hot chocolate will be served.

It was all true and to top it off there was a light snowfall that floated clumps of stick-on-the-end-of-your-nose snow. It is very hard not to spout words like “idyllic,” “rustic,” “picturesque,” “unspoiled,” and other synonyms … because it was a lot of fun. A lot of people worked hard to make an afternoon of sleigh rides, hot chocolate, and maple syrup taffy in the snow.

We spent about 45 minutes in the blacksmith shop and Robin and I got to make some crafts with steel. She got to make a nail and I made a double-ended hook. When Robin was not making her nail and hammering she was driving the fan to keep the force hot. She was told that in the late 19th century she might earn ten cents for a day of keeping the shop clean and the fire hot. She would probably also have been a boy.

All told, we spent a little over two hours wandering around the village, eating taffy (actually, picking taffy out of teeth and hoping not to dislodge fillings), patting bunnies (free to a good home), going on sleigh rides, and drinking hot chocolate. We finished the day at home with warm stew and many smiles.