Day 23 of 30: Channeling

Earth Day began about as beautifully as it possibly could have:

Not a cloud in sight, very little breeze to speak of, a slight chill in the air, but all in all it was a great day to be outside:

But of course, that kind of enjoyment can be fleeting when encountering circumstances beyond your control. For example, a pump seal failing and sending liquid fertilizer spewing...well...everywhere:

It got all over my clothes and made it look like I'd just murdered someone. Once it dried, it made movement rather uncomfortable, including my commute home. Beyond that, I spent the better part of an hour coordinating a fix with my boss because I didn't have the proper parts on hand in my truck to fix it. Lesson learned for the future, I suppose. I also spent an additional hour cleaning my truck after I got back to the shop. Needless to say, I was not a fan of how my work day ended.

I feel it's important to take a brief aside and mention that I'm still very thankful to have gainful employment right now, my employer has been pretty awesome overall through this whole turmoil, and a frustrating day does not change that mindset.

I know I just mentioned that my afternoon commute was uncomfortable, but I did inflict a little bit of my own pain in that regard, because I opted to ride the whole way home instead of taking the bus. I actually needed it. Sometimes an angry ride is a good coping mechanism, and this one worked particularly well. I got home feeling a small bit of accomplishment having channeled my frustrations into something that ultimately wasn't destructive even if it was a bit uncomfortable. At the absolute minimum, I spent an extra 4 miles on my bike!

Lost in the shuffle of all of this is the fact that I mentioned it was a beautiful day to be outside, so I decided to go back out for another ride after dinner:

I headed to downtown Grove City to patronize a local favourite, but not Transcend Coffee + Roastery, which you see above. Their storefront is closed completely for the time being, but I supported them in another way by ordering some coffee beans thru their Facebook page (linked above). The owner contacted me and delivered them within an hour of my order placement due to impeccable timing, but typical turnaround is 24 hours:

I loved the sticker on the bag, which is also shown on their doorway:

I do love their coffee too, so I plan to make this a routine until they re-open as normal.

Transcend is right across the street from another of my routine destinations, Hop Yard 62. This was my intended stop for my after dinner ride:

I may or may not be using this situation as an excuse to buy more local beer. In any case, I'm supporting the local economy, right?

I think you can agree that this was a pretty good ending to a day. I'd like to add that while I was out enduring and experiencing all of this, my wonderful girlfriend and daughter were trying their own experiences. They picked some of the violets in our landscape outside while I was at work, and Rae is going to try to make violet jelly out of them. I'll be sure to post an update, even though it's not cycling related :)

Whatever your Thursday throws at you, I hope you're able to channel it into something positive. Be well, my friends.

30DoB Mileage Counter: 233.0