Long Walks On Leafy Streets

6/3/2014 Peabody Street NW, Washington, DC
Over the past week the zucchini and chili pepper seeds that I planted on the previous wednesday have sprouted and come out very well, to my own surprise. I had simply put them in pots with some soil and some compost that I got from the Ft. Totten solid waste station. I don’t even know what exactly the “compost” was. It was black with a mix of soil like material and some wood chips. Some call it mulch. Whatever it was, it was working. Since it is black in color I am assuming it must have some composted organic material like leaves in it. Every morning the first thing I do is to look at how the little plants are coming up. I enjoy watching the little seeds sprout and grow and put out leaves. Now the hard work of preparing the garden and transplanting them begins.
Saturday was a busy day. I got up at 6 which is early for me these days because I go to bed very late.
But as I did on the previous saturday when we stayed at the Skyland hotel in the Shenandoah, I really enjoyed getting up with the sun. The mind feels very fresh and clear. I hope to do it on a regular basis. After getting up I worked to fix my bike because I was planning to ride it to the convention center where the Green festival was going on.
The bike had developed a leak in the back tyre and had gone flat. The tube must have gotten damaged during the bike ride on the W&OD trail with Lori and others from the nature lovers’ meetup, several weeks ago. That was the last time I had used it. After I removed the old tube I put on a new one because the damage on the tube was too much to patch up. I spent some time trying to pump up the tyre but it refused to inflate. This was mystifying. Since it was getting late I just took the metro train but yesterday morning I pulled out the “new” tube and found that it too had some cracks in it. Perhaps the rubber had deteriorated with time because I had bought it a long time ago. I then patched it up and so far the tube has maintained its pressure. I am going to ride my bike again this evening to test it out. I used to ride my bike everywhere but these days I walk more. I look forward to biking on a regular basis although I plan to continue walking as well because I enjoy it so much.
At the Green festival I volunteered with the Sierra Club asking people if they wanted to go hiking. It was a great event and I enjoyed talking to people and telling them about our outings program. I enjoyed working with the other Sierra Club volunteers. I also got to test ride the ELF, a solar powered tricycle. It looks a little bit like the auto-rickshaws we see in India (called “tuk-tuk” elsewhere) with a solar panel on the roof but it is really a pedal powered tricycle with battery assist. You can go on pedal power alone and you can also turn on the electric motor to get extra power. It can go upto 30 mph with combined electric and pedal power. It was a great experience to ride it. I had read about it online and so it was thrilling to actually ride it. It is similar to the idea I had except that my idea is to use compressed air instead of battery. Perhaps battery is better. I need to research it.
After that I went to see “Lemurs of Madagascar” at the IMAX 3D theater in the natural history museum. This was also organized by Lori for the nature lovers’ meetup. It was a truly fantastic movie experience, almost as if you were there in the jungle. It was also sobering to see all the deforestation and resulting danger to the survival of the lemurs which have thrived there for millions of years. The movie ends on a positive note, showing that the people of Madagascar are realizing the value of the forests and working to stop their destruction.
After the movie we biked around Arlington (Lori helped me get a bike from one of the bike-share stations) looking at some homes that had built nice gardens with native plants. It was great to see people so enthusiastic about gardens and also gratifying to know that even in the city one can create such wonderful habitats for butterflies and birds and small animals. Halfway through the tour I felt extremely exhausted. All the running around during the week must have gotten to me. So I said goodbye to the meetup people and took the metro home.
As I was walking from Takoma station I looked up and was struck by the sheer beauty of the blue sky and the wispy clouds. It was quite a picturesque day. I walked for a little bit just looking at the clouds. It relieved a bit of the fatigue and filled me with peace.

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