Apres le Deluge ...

Say hey, Gate. My question to you, Jack, is this ... what's the rest of that quotation "Apres le deluge ..." ? I hate being at a loss when it comes to a quotation, but I invariable forget critical parts.

Well, Gate, the rain is over and the sun has returned and the people, they rejoice. After missing several cycling sessions because of the rain, I spent a good part of last night cycling around the block ... four or five times and then right up the hill and back home.

Gate, if you don't own a bicycle, you're missing out on a great experience. For a number of years I'd considered obtaining a bicycle but I was always uncertain of just what I wanted ... a five speed or a ten speed? Which make of bicycle was best? The questions you ask when you're buying an automobile, but on a smaller scale. Then, at that time we didn't have a garage so there was no place to store said bicycle ... and that pretty much finished that.

Then two things happened: I found out my boss ran a program that took in bicycles no one wanted any more and found new homes for them (rather than having the discarded bicycles ending up in a landfill, which is where most bicycles end up). Then I read a biography on the German electronic band Kraftwerk. Ralf and Florian are dedicated, some would say obsessed, bicyclists. I liked their concept of the bicycle/rider as being "The Man-Machine" which, of course, is what it is. So I asked my boss about picking up a bicycle from her warehouse and ended up with a Japanese Azuki ten speed. It's small, light weight and nifty. There's really nothing like cycling around, even though my efforts currently are limited to my immediate neighborhood.

In other news: This is a holiday weekend here in the States. It's Memorial Day on Monday which, for me, means no mail. Like a lot of people, especially people of a post Vietnam generation, Memorial is somewhat meaningless. It's supposed to be about honoring fallen soldiers, as Veteran's Day is about honoring living soldiers ... but for me, that's another day without mail. Anyway, Gate, someone at work asked my co-worker, Julie, if she "was in the holiday spirit." She replied that for her generation Memorial Day was meaningless.

"Holiday spirit"? Isn't that Thanksgiving and Christmas (other days without mail for me)? I don't connect the phrase "holiday spirit" with these stodgy, solemn days of observance.

Personally, I miss Arbor Day and Decoration Day.

Can you dig it, Gate? I just remembered the quotation:

"Apres moi, le deluge."

It was said by either Louis XIV, Fantomas or Jean Paul Sartre.