Hope sizzles

I refound invulnerability tonight. It's been a long time since I've braved cold successfully but after this weekend and this evening suddenly I feel less fragile and more willing to take a risk (we'll see where this ends up...). Dinner called from the store - after a long day at the office and nothing but butter and old eggs in the fridge I was in desperate need of something quick and tasty and good and cheap - rotisserie chicken fresh from the deli. My new favorite no-fuss dinner. One pecker good for two dinners - some potatoes or bread and green beans and your balanced meal is all ready. But to get there -from the office with my fleece and jacket and hat and helmet and blinky and I was ready to go except for gloves. The love-hate relationship between the weather and my fingers has been in force these days with below freezing temps when I leave in the morning and highs of 50 midday. I hardly know what to do. So today I just had my liners - blue as pale as their real cold-protection. So I rode with my thumbs wrapped around the handlebars and my fingers in a fist, braced on top in case of bumps, ready for a quick swerve from a car, coiled to spring out and brake if necessary, but mostly trying to not get cold. It's hard to pick out apples when you can't feel anything. And I made it. Granted, it's not far, but I made it in and even had my gloves off by the time I got to the apples. Coming home was harder - I suppose since the temperature dropped a few degrees while I sashayed up and down aisles - but I survived and even set my lock without fumbling (this is a milestone for me, even if you don't see it). So I'm ready. I managed a weekend of ultimate without handwarmers where the morning temps were in the 30s, I conquered the evening cycle to the store and became happily provisioned. I may not have eckhart to throw in front of all winter this year but I do have my own office, my own invitation to be bothered, my disc on the bookshelf as I look out the window at the open space ripe for throwing, right on my quad.