But today I did something different. My usual pattern has been to ride a leg to the south to Summit Avenue, thence east to the Capitol, thereby setting up a final leg to the northwest with a complete tail wind.While I was walking around the neighborhood this winter thinking about whatever it was I wanted to think about I considered this whole Capitol loop thing. It occurred to me, finally, that I was riding a leg to the south, into a quartering head wind, then a leg to the east, into a quartering head wind, just to set up what was, to be sure, an extremely pleasant ride home. The problem is that the Capitol is only about 7 miles from home. So I was riding more than 15 miles of head wind to set up a 7 mile stretch of feeling strong.
So today I road in the the opposite direction.
Seven miles of pretty hard work into a fairly brisk spring breeze but then the rest of the way with quartering tailwinds.
Insert state motto of the State of California here.
I paused at the Capitol where a group of my fellow citizens had peacefully assembled to petition their government.
I heartily approve of that sort of thing, particularly when they rent their own toilets.Just a small addition to yesterday's government related bits: I did not mean to imply that I disapproved of the decision to open County Road C2. The deal is that that small strip of land may not have been paved and it may have had a wooden barricade but that was public property, dedicated by the original plat as a public street, the property of all of the taxpayers of the city, not just those who live nearby. Whether or not I agree with the decision I totally support the right of the government elected by the eligible voters of this city to assert the rights of public ownership. It also doesn't hurt my feelings that the result of the decision is to add to the tax base of the jurisdiction to which I pay the greatest portion of my property tax.
My position of real estate is that if you want to control the use of any particular piece of real estate it is best that you own that piece of land. If you don't own it the entity that does may make a decision contrary to the one you would have made.
Of course, I also refer to the wise words of my Uncle Al, who is reputed to have said, if you think you own that land just try not paying your property taxes and find out who really owns it.
Private ownership of real estate is not a natural right of the universe, it is an imaginary concept, totally and completely created by the rule of the law promulgated by the citizens and government of the place where the real estate is located.
End of that rant.
I ended up coming through the Fairgrounds looking for a late in the ride loop. I didn't see any clowns but I did find evidence that the circus, and indeed the clowns, are in town.
It is worth noting at this point that the Shriner's actually do some important charitable work, supporting the Shriner's hospitals.EG: NA
CB: 55
AOWG: 66
Still March but some definite activity has started in the corn field.
That could be a planter but I actually think it is a sprayer, a machine for the application of perhaps fertilizer, perhaps an herbicide or a pesticide. I know that one of the issues with corn is despite its ability to produce prodigious amounts of cash per acre that cultivating corn on the same piece of ground year after year can lead to a proliferation of pests including pests that can become resistant to the main stream pesticides. They have been growing corn on that piece of ground every year that I have lived here and it is an agricultural experiment station, I am going to guess that they are testing pesticides and that machine over there today is just applying the newest witch's brew.
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