I Will Miss the Solitude

The days are getting longer, and despite flirtation with record lows, it's more or less inevitable that temperatures are going to warm up soon.

And the joggers will return to the outside world from their treadmills or their hibernation, and the rest of the bikers will come back out, and the toddlers and their parents, and all the dogs that have been sleeping flabbily by the radiator for months, the lovers and the tourists and everyone else who has been cooped up indoors, lo these many weeks.

And I will be thrilled to ride more comfortably, to be able to get on my bike without first spending ten minutes adding layer upon layer of clothing. I will be relieved when I no longer have to worry about patches of ice or treacherous potholes.

But I will miss the solitude and the silence of my winter ride along the river at the end of the day.