Byways

Writing

Travel

I spent much of the morning riding my bike through weeds and along dirt roads. No, I wasn't in the country or on a off-road bike road. I was riding in Tucson. Much of the ride today was along the Rillito, but not on the well maintained section that was officially called the Pima County River Park. I was riding on a section on where the banks have been stabalized but are fairly rudimentary and often non-existent. There were no bridges over the washes coming in and I had to ride down and then up, often with a detour. A few times I had to walk my bike down and back up (ok, ok, so I'm not into EXTREME SPORTS).

I also like alley walking. Alleys show you the uncensored view of a neighborhood. The downside is that you get barked at by a lot of dogs, but you find wildflowers that have escaped the lawn mower and the landscaper. You see the bits and pieces of life that have been pushed out of the house. I enjoy the beautiful landscaping and the manicured lawns but I also enjoy seeing the hidden, no, not hidden as much as pushed aside, parts; the ignored and overlooked parts of life.

I enjoyed watching the water wind it's way through the "river". We had quite a good rain the night before so there actually was water. It flowed around and past the bushes that had grown in the wash. Due to our wet summer there were lots of plants and it was great watching them waving above the water. There were people riding horses through the wash and several kids playing in the water. Luckily they were with their parents as the washes can be dangerous as the water can rise fairly fast even if it isn't raining right where you are.

Several dogs were walking their humans and having a great time playing in the water. One was shaking water all over everyone.