Dodging Fumes and Doggy Bombs

It's my day off and I'm going to strive not to drive. I've already ridden the bus to West End Bakery. I walked back down Brevard Road to come home. It's a beautiful sunny day, although still cold, but not frigid like it has been. There were two notable negative things, however, that afflicted my walk: a lot of noxious fumes from vehicles...I mean dark smoke that you could actually see. At one point I stopped and just stood for awhile, waiting for the air to clear so I could walk through it. Also, there were lots of doggy bombs all over the sidewalk. People, please, can't you carry little baggies with you and clean up after your little darlings? Give a thought to other people!!

Oh, by the way: one more positive thing. A driver actually stopped for me to cross at the crosswalk on Haywood Road. This is the crosswalk near the bakery where there is no traffic light. Many, many many thanks to you drivers who pay attention to random crosswalks!

Will go to the Asheville Transit Public Hearing for Transit Master Plan meeting today! Please come! It's 4-7 at the Civic Center and is drop in so you don't have to sit through 3 hours of meeting! Come make your wants and needs known!

A Quiet Rainy Friday on the Bus

Very quiet on this bus this morning. I wasn't ready til 8:15, so I dashed out the door in the drizzle. I took an umbrella, but still felt surprisingly light. I was sure the Brevard Rd. bus had already gone by, since it was so late. Just as well. I wanted to walk up to West End Bakery and get a muffin anyway. I can then catch the #1 bus right across the street. As I was walking, at 8:18, the Brevard Rd. bus passed me. Told ya before, it's really variable!

So the rain had all of us quiet this morning. The only flurry of sound was when we started into Pisgah View, I saw someone running for the bus. No one else saw her, not even the driver!! This was so exciting for me...I pointed and said, "Hey, (sputter, sputter)"...or something like that. Fortunately a young man looked, and then yelled: "Someone's trying to catch the bus." So an older lady in a green raincoat and carrying a red umbrella caught up with us. And all was quiet again.

After I got to work I realized why I had felt so light this morning. I didn't bring the leftovers that I had intended to eat for lunch! Fortunately, Ken (it's his day off) and Walter were coming into town, so they brought them to me!

relaxed Friday

It's been a good week for getting around. The van has been idle in the driveway since Sunday (Desperate Housewives airs on Sundays).

First, the bus riding: Tuesday and Wednesday were bus-riding days. I'm getting the hang of riding #9 from Brevard Road. It's a shame there's not a bus stop near the house, but the drivers are always very nice, and they stop for us.

I've used the Corolla a bit, but not to get to work. Tuesday I drove it a few miles to a ride-share. We meet at a spot, then carpool down to Fletcher to play some volleyball. We would play in Asheville, but Asheville Parks and Recreation saw fit to cancel the league games here. On the one hand, driving to Fletcher burns a lot of gas. On the other hand, we managed to pack nine adults into two vehicles. I put about six more miles on the Corolla just going back and forth to the carpool spot.

Oh yes, here's another 100+ miles I had forgotten about... Sherry and Nathan went to Franklin yesterday. They took the Corolla. Well, it's better than driving the van.

I'm happy to have the day off today.

I put perhaps another six miles (I'm guessing) on the Corolla today. I was invited for a panel discussion at Erwin Middle School. Surely there's no way to get to EMS without driving (I've never seen a runner on New Leicester Highway. I value my health and life too much to run that road). I drove out there and back. It was a lot of fun.

Speaking of running, I went out for a run in West Asheville around noon. I usually run early in the morning, but today looked like a good day for a later run (temp this morning was 37 F). The temperature at 11:30 was fine, but the traffic, geez. I did not remember the traffic being so bad in WA that time of day. Please, if you see a runner in the road, treat him like a cyclist. Give him a wide berth. If he's on the sidewalk or in a crosswalk, realize that he's a pedestrian.

Drivers usually ignore the crosswalks on Haywood Road, particularly the one near Burgermeister. Folks, this is a state law. Drivers must stop for a pedestrian in the crosswalk. Having said that, Pedestrians, hear me: don't plan on ANY drivers stopping at the Burgermeister crosswalk for you-- for practical purposes, it may as well not exist.

I walked up to Haywood Road (I am blogging this from the West End Bakery--the Chocolate/Ginger muffin is tasty), where I can combine a lot of errands. It's a crisp, sunny day--ideal for a walk, a perfect fall day. It's sunny and cool. The trees on Vermont Ave. still have their leaves, but not for long. All in all, it's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.

Do you live in a neighborhood? I recommend you take a walk through it.

Be careful in the crosswalks.