The Rides of March

Both personally and globally, it's been quite a month.  I've had several great rides the last few weeks but haven't had a chance to write about them.  Today is a quiet day, and so I'll combine them all into the Rides of March.

Team Camp

Our Georgia Neuro team had its annual camp February 28 - March 1.  Originally, we were going to an Airbnb in east Alabama, just over the Georgia state line.  The owners had to cancel shortly before our planned date, and so we had to find another location pronto.  Robert found another Airbnb on the opposite side of the state, near Hartwell, Georgia.

Cal was pretty psyched about the alternate locale because he knew of a great nearby mountain bike course at Paynes Creek.  Those of us who could get off work early on Friday met up for a little shredding.

I actually had a good time because the trails weren't highly technical and allowed me to work on my basic mountain bike skills.

Everyone else arrived in time to go to dinner in Hartwell that evening.  We fueled up for our main ride of the weekend, a 75-mile road ride the next morning.

I was somewhat familiar with some of the roads in this part of the state from randonneuring.  Before camp, I had Robert tweak the Saturday route to go by the Georgia Guidestones, an unusual landmark.  It consists of five large granite slabs with a granite capstone.  Four of the slabs radiate from a center slab and have instructions for living peaceably on Earth.  Each side of the four outer slabs is written in a different language: English, Spanish, Swahili, Hindi, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, and Russian.  Each side of the capstone has a shorter message in an ancient language: Babylonian cuneiform, classical Greek, Sanskrit, and ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.  The Guidestones also have several astronomical features relating to the celestial pole and the traverse of the sun.

The Guidestones were erected in 1980, but their author is unknown.  As I expected, some of my teammates didn't know that the Guidestones exist.

The day got windier, which made drafting a lot harder.  Predictably, the guys dropped me.  I rode my best and was surprised to discover that I showed up back at the Airbnb only a few minutes after the guys.  All of us were battered and windburned.  We spent the rest of the day relaxing and enjoying a delicious dinner that Allen and Jan prepared for us.

Our Airbnb was on Hartwell Lake.  It had a representation of the lake on the wall that gave some interesting facts about the lake.  It was built in the 1950s and is about 180 feet deep, definitely deeper than the lakes near my home.

I thought I remembered that Hart County is the only one of Georgia's 159 counties that is named for a woman.  That's correct - it was named for Nancy Hart, renowned for fending off Tory soldiers during the Revolutionary War when Georgia was a British colony.  I have several plates that depict scenes from Georgia history, including the one with Nancy Hart.

We had to check out of the Airbnb by 10:00 AM the next morning.  That didn't give us enough time to ride again as well as take showers, and so we all headed home after breakfast.  It wasn't one of our more elaborate team camps, but I enjoyed being with everyone.


Bridge to Bridge

For several months Robert had been planning a single-track ride from Juliette to the Sac o' Suds, which he named Bridge to Bridge.  He intended it as kind of a showcase of all the work he's been doing to restore trails in the Oconee National Forest in south Jasper County.

The Ocmulgee River, adjacent to the national forest in our county, sometimes floods.  It can be two to three years between flooding events, but the river has overtopped its banks five times this year since January 1!  Bridge to Bridge originally was scheduled for February, but Robert had to postpone it to March 7.  Even then, he wasn't sure he could host it because the river flooded yet again the first week of March.  Fortunately, it receded enough that he still could hold the ride in a rerouted version.  The coolest change to the route is that Robert installed zip lines across three creek crossings.

I didn't plan to do the ride because my mountain bike skills aren't up to snuff to keep up with the guys.  More importantly, I had to get ready for the state MATHCOUNTS competition on Monday.  Still, I wanted to get close to at least some of the action.  So, I took my greyhounds for a short hike to the first zip line to watch the guys cross.

Can you believe I dropped my phone right before I got to the zip line?  Eventually, I found my phone but not in time to record the crossing.  So, I had to look at the guys' pictures after the fact.  Still, it's easy to see how much fun they had playing in the woods all day on their bikes.

International Women's Day Ride/Recon Jasper Hike

I spent Saturday finishing getting ready for the state MATHCOUNTS competition because I had a full Sunday: a ride for International Women's Day and a community-wide Recon Jasper hike that Robert had planned for that afternoon.  Additionally, several friends from out of town planned to come for the hike.  We decided to have dinner at Robert's and my house after the hike because no restaurants are open in Monticello in Sunday evening.  Therefore, I was also scrambling to clean house and cook!  (Why do I over-schedule myself so...)

I got up before sunrise to finish cleaning house, especially jolly because I lost an hour overnight because of the time change.  (I'm not complaining, though, because I love Daylight Saving Time!)  Later that morning, I headed out for my International Women's Day bike ride.  This was an organized virtual event in which participants rode a local route of 25, 50, or 100 km.  I had wanted to ride 100 km, but I only had time for 50.  (Ha! Typical of a busy woman.)  I did my Rabbit Skip loop, which is 31 miles long, or exactly 50 km.  Perfect!  Also, it had been a while since I had done this enjoyable route.  I submitted my Strava file to the ride organizer.  I look forward to receiving my International Women's Day Bike Ride patch in the mail.

After a quick shower and lunch, Robert and I headed back down to the Oconee Forest trails to greet our fellow hikers.  About 20 of us hiked nearly six miles on a beautiful late winter afternoon.

Sediment left on these turkey tail mushrooms by the receding floodwaters

My friend Katherine

My friends Tyson and Jehan

Also, it was so worth it to have my friends over for dinner.  It was a great excuse to clean house.  More importantly, it was wonderful to spend time with them.

Katherine, me, and Kathleen (not pictured - Susan)

Tuesday Worlds

We're back on Daylight Saving Time - woo hoo!  That means it's time for another season of Tuesday Worlds.  A nice, big crowd showed up for the first ride of the season.

Mt. Zion Church, which graciously lets us use their parking lot, welcomed us all back with goodie bags full of granola bars, fruit, and other treats.  They are very generous to us, and we all greatly appreciate them.


Athens-Augusta-Athens 400K

Yesterday I did the Athens-Augusta-Athens 400K brevet.  I wasn't really jonesin' to do a brevet that long, but that was the only one on the Georgia calendar this month.  Oh, well - it was also good to remember what it's like to do a longer brevet because I hope to do a 1000K  at the end of April.  (The only reason I need to do a 1000K is to meet all the requirements of a particular randonneuring award - I'm like a magpie collecting shiny trinkets.)

I prepared myself mentally for about 18 hours in the saddle and packed my bicycle and gear on Friday night.  Unfortunately, I didn't sleep too well.  I hoped that wouldn't come back to haunt me too much during the ride.

Eight of us gathered for the brevet.  I rode the entire time with David B., Dick, Graham, Ian, and Jim.  A 400K is never easy, but between my great companions and good weather, it was about as enjoyable as I could hope for.  We all kept each other going.

Yesterday was also Pi Day!  (3/14)  Therefore, I was on a quest to find pi(e) somewhere along the ride.  We had an open control at a shopping center at the turnaround point.  Graham, Ian, and I went to Publix while the others went to Subway.  I found some pi(e)!

They had several types of pi(e), not just apple.  I got a peach pi(e) and shared it with Graham and Ian.

Usually, I switch from my contacts to glasses in the later hours of a long a brevet.  However, yesterday morning my eyes started hurting so much that I went ahead and put my glasses on then.  I suspected that the pine pollen count was high even though we didn't see the ubiquitous yellow coating that will appear any day now.

Sure enough, at our lunch stop we confirmed that it's pine pollen season.  Ian had pollen streaks from the air vents in his helmet, and Graham had pollen raccoon eyes.

Early in the afternoon before we got to Augusta, I went through a stretch where I felt sleepy.  (Amazingly, that was the worst of it, not even as bad as the final hours of the brevet.)  I got a Coke at one of the controls.  Additionally, I composed some haiku to help keep myself awake:

Coronavirus
All y'all stay the hell away
An introvert's dream

That mean ol' virus
Cancelled this year's festival
But not the blossoms

That second haiku is a reference to the Macon Cherry Blossom Festival :(  I composed several more haiku following our lunch stop in Augusta:

Need pi(e) for Pi Day
Convenience stores are pi(e)-less
Yea!  Publix comes through

Intricate design
Adapt henna for the South
Use pollen instead

We finished at 12:23 AM for a total time of 18 hours and 23 minutes.  That's about what I'd hoped for.  I composed one final haiku:

Rode 400K
Athens-Augusta-Athens
My buttocks are tired


Fried Clay

Next weekend was supposed to be the Fried Clay 200K (and 420K, but no way I'd do that - it would be hard enough on pavement, never mind off-road!)  Today we got word that Pat, the organizer, is postponing it due to the coronovirus.  I'm disappointed but not surprised.  It's such an uncertain time.  I hope that we can get back to a more normal routine sooner rather than later.

Pat plans to reschedule the Fried Clay for late May or early June.  I hope it works out.  It's already been a mixed up racing season.  The organizer of the Middle Georgia Epic cancelled that event last month for personal reasons.  Our Georgia Neuro cycling team requirements are to do at least five races a year.  The Middle Georgia Epic and the Fried Clay were going to be two of my five.  I think I can work around these changes easily enough.  Regardless, particularly with the need for social distancing, I'll be spending a lot of time on the bike.

55th Anniversary Selma to Montgomery Bicycle Ride

Last Saturday I was honored to take part in the 55th Anniversary Selma to Montgomery Bicycle Ride.  Hosted by the Montgomery Bicycle Club, it included nearly 600 riders from about 35 states.  We rode on the same route that protesters took in 1965 as they marched for voting rights.

The bicycles themselves have historical significance.  Many African-Americans used bicycles during the time of segregated public transportation, particularly during the bus boycotts of the Civil Rights era.

Additionally, many of the participants in last Saturday's ride came from Major Taylor cycling clubs from around the country.  The Major Taylor Cycling Association was created in honor of Marshall "Major" Taylor, who became the first African-American world cycling champion in 1899.  He was also the second black athlete to win a world championship in any sport.

Major Taylor wasn't allowed to race in the Jim Crow South during his career.  White cyclists refused to race against him and sometimes even attempted to injure him during races.  Therefore, Major Taylor helped pave the way for later civil rights champions.

I first heard about the Selma to Montgomery Ride last fall.  I really wanted to participate, but I had already committed to the annual Middle Georgia Epic race near my home.  Then, the Middle Georgia Epic was cancelled last month.  I had forgotten about the Selma to Montgomery Ride until Bruce Herbitter, the Alabama RBA, posted about pre-riding the route on the RUSA Facebook page.  Although the ride was already full, Bruce noted that people could send an e-mail to get on the waiting list.  I did so right away, and - lo and behold - the very next day someone contacted me about transferring her registration to me.  Yea!  I was in!

Last Friday after work, I drove about 3 hours and 15 minutes to Montgomery.  I picked up my registration materials and checked in my bicycle to be transported to Selma the next morning.  Then, I grabbed some dinner and went to a motel.

The next morning I rose bright and early to board one of several buses that would take the riders from Montgomery to the ride start in Selma.  We started loading about 6:00 AM and headed out at 7:00 AM.  A boxed breakfast was provided for the bus ride.

The ride started from the Edmund Pettus Bridge, the site of "Bloody Sunday."  On Sunday, March 7, 1965, marchers were attacked on this bridge as they set out for Montgomery.  John Lewis, now a U.S. Representative from Georgia, was nearly beaten to death that day.  The attack on marchers was broadcast across the nation and galvanized support for voting rights.

Two days later, March 9, 1965, was "Turnaround Tuesday."  1500 marchers, including many ministers, started the trek across the bridge again, singing "Ain't Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around."  When they got to the site of Bloody Sunday, they knelt to pray.  Afterwards, the marchers were led back across the bridge to where they had started from Brown Chapel in Selma.  The full 54-mile march from Selma to Montgomery began on March 21, 1965 and lasted five days.

We rode 51 miles last Saturday, beginning at the bridge.

The Edmund Pettus Bridge spans the Alabama River.  I couldn't help but also think about environmental justice.  The Alabama-Coosa-Tallapoosa river basin has been the source of a decades-old battle between Georgia and Alabama.  (Simultaneously, Georgia and Florida have been fighting over the Apalachicola-Chattahoochee-Flint basin.)  Such environmental disputes often give poor people and minorities the short end of the stick.

My goal on this ride was to observe and learn.  The first rest stop was about seven miles into the ride.  It was near the David Hall Farm, the site of the first campsite on the 1965 march.  The campsites were owned by people friendly to the movement.

The ride route then returned to U.S. Highway 80.  The weather was beautiful for February.  Although it was cold, especially early that morning, the sky was bright blue.  I rode mostly by myself, but my thoughts kept me company.

The main rest stop was the second one at the Lowndes Interpretive Center, about 22 miles in.  I went to the refreshment table and found one of the best rest stop items I've ever encountered: baked sweet potatoes!  These were small sweet potatoes, maybe four inches long and one or two inches in diameter.  Cinnamon and sugar were offered as toppings.  Rocket fuel!

I'm so used to trying to ride quickly and minimize rest stop time that I had to remind myself to savor this ride.  The Interpretive Center was open.  Therefore, I made a point to go inside.  I'm so glad I did.

John Lewis in the light colored coat in the foreground

I learned some new things on the ride.  First, although I was familiar with literacy tests being administered to African-Americans to prevent them from voting, I didn't realize how arbitrary and impossible they could be.  The Montgomery Bicycle Club included this example literacy test in our rider bags:

One totally new thing I learned about was Tent City.  Many white landowners evicted from their land the African-American tenant farmers who voted.  The Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) brought tents, cots, heaters, food, and water so that the evicted farmers could remain in Lowndes County.  These evicted families were displaced for up to two years.  The Lowndes Interpretive Center is on the site of Tent City.

Perhaps not coincidentally, on the drive to and from the ride, I listened to We Are Displaced by Malala Yousafzai.  This book opened my eyes to how many people in the world today are displaced - forced to leave their homes for survival - and some aren't even refugees.  (They might be internally displaced within their own countries, e.g.)  Our own American brothers and sisters were similarly displaced into Tent City during the Civil Rights era.

I continued on my ride.  For a little while I rode with a few riders from the Major Taylor club from New Jersey.  One of them, named Gina, had done the Metro Atlanta Cycling Club (MACC) One Love Century last year.  Gina and I talked about the delicious tomato wedges with garlic salt served at the One Love rest stops.  She was as taken with them as I was, even spreading the idea to another Mid-Atlantic charity ride!

For the last five or so miles, I rode with a nice guy named Jim.  He's 71 and served in the navy during Vietnam.  He's kind of like the Dale Vaughan of Montgomery.

Jim and I rolled into the finish together at the capitol in Montgomery.

Lunch was provided after the ride at the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Legacy Center.  The Legacy Center is adjacent to the Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church, which was the staging area for the final rally at the capitol in 1965.  After enjoying some delicious chili at the Legacy Center, I headed back to Monticello.  What a wonderful day it was!

The ride solidified how important voting rights are to me.  I registered to vote when I was 17 1/2 to make sure that I would be eligible for the fall elections held soon after my 18th birthday in 1988.  Since then, I have voted in every primary, general election, runoff, and special election in my voting district.  This year also marks the 100th anniversary of women's suffrage with the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.  Today, voting rights are still under attack through such measures as purging of voter rolls and gerrymandering.  We must stick together to preserve our democratic ideals.  (That's democratic with a small "d," which you'd think all Americans could get behind.)

One day last week when it was cold and rainy, I did an indoor trainer ride on Zwift.  While I rode, I listened to some music from the Apple library.  As a bonus, the lyrics were displayed on the screen as the music played.  I listened to one of my favorite bands, Rush, including their song "A Farewell to Kings."  It struck me how pertinent the lyrics are to both the Civil Rights era and today:

A Farewell to Kings

Music: Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and Neil Peart

Lyrics: Neil Peart

When they turn the pages of history
When these days have passed long ago
Will they read of us with sadness
For the seeds that we let grow
We turned our gaze
From the castles in the distance
Eyes cast down
On the path of least resistance

Cities full of hatred
Fear and lies
Withered hearts
And cruel, tormented eyes
Scheming demons
Dressed in kingly guise
Beating down the multitude
And scoffing at the wise

The hypocrites are slandering

The sacred halls of Truth
Ancient nobles showering
Their bitterness on youth
Can’t we find
The minds that made us strong
Can’t we learn
To feel what’s right and wrong

Cities full of hatred
Fear and lies
Withered hearts
And cruel, tormented eyes
Scheming demons
Dressed in kingly guise
Beating down the multitude
And scoffing at the wise
Can’t we raise our eyes
And make a start
Can’t we find the minds
To lead us closer to the Heart


Ride on!  And vote on!

Fickle February

You've heard the jokes about having all four seasons in one week, but by golly that really has seemed true this February in Georgia.

Groundhog Day

One of my favorite holidays is Groundhog Day.  I love the ridiculousness of it.  (However, I fear that a lot of Americans really do believe in meteorological marmots but don't think climate change is real.)

For the third year in a row, I went to nearby Dauset Trails to see General Beauregard Lee, Georgia's Official Weather Prognosticator, make this year's prediction.

Beau said we'd have six more weeks of winter.  I was disappointed but not surprised.  It hasn't been a very cold winter.  That doesn't mean we haven't had other notable weather phenomena...

Snow

Middle Georgia has been spared snow thus far this year.  (Yea!)  However, it did snow during the chapter MATHCOUNTS competition in Atlanta on February 8.  Fortunately, it was just enough to be pretty without wreaking havoc on the roads.  I love the contrast of the snow with the early blooms in this photo:

I didn't get to ride on MATHCOUNTS competition day, but I compensated by riding the day before, making Saturday my day off instead of the usual Friday.  Math and cycling are both important.

Early Spring?  Psych!

Four days later was one of those warmish February days.  The daffodils in my planter have been hinting at spring:

That afternoon I did an interval workout.  It was warm enough to ride in shorts and a short-sleeved jersey with no base layer.  But Beau was right; winter is definitely not over.

Cold

It turned cold again for last Saturday's Augusta 300K brevet.  It was in the upper 30s when we started.  Happily, temperatures rose to the 50s by the afternoon.  The sunny, calm day was nice for February.

I really enjoyed the route, which I had ridden only once before, back in 2014.  In fact, that was my first ever 300K!  I had forgotten what a great course it is - beautiful rural roads with very little traffic.  My riding companions were excellent, too: David B., Dick (until he broke a spoke and had to DNF), Graham, Ian, and Jim.

By the way, we had a memorable encounter at the first control, which was a convenience store.  A woman asked, "Are y'all riding for a cause or just for fun?"  I replied, "We're just riding 'cause."

The hardest part was after the sun went down.  Being fatigued after spending all day in the saddle, the nighttime cold seemed even colder.  I finished in about the time I expected (9 hours, 29 minutes), but those last 50 miles felt extra tough.

I drove home with my car heater and seat heat on high.  It felt so good!  Even so, it wasn't until the next afternoon that my body finally didn't have to work so hard to keep up its core temperature.  Of all the adverse conditions I ride in, cold affects me the worst.  Between the Monticello 300K last year and the Augusta 300K this year, I've found that wintertime 300K's are tough!  At least it wasn't raining.  I've decided that out of dark, cold, and rain, I'll ride in a maximum of two of those conditions.

Rain

Rain has definitely been the most prominent weather feature this month.  Robert had to postpone his Bridge to Bridge mountain bike ride, which was supposed to be February 8, the same day I went to the MATHCOUNTS competition.  I hope the river goes down and the trails dry out enough for the rescheduled date, March 7.

Robert has been paying particular attention to the flow rate of the Ocmulgee River the last few months.  He does trail work by the river as often as he can, and he's been trying to determine the flow rate that makes the river overtop its banks.  Using USGS data from their website, he knows the Ocmulgee is definitely out of its banks when the flow is greater than 10,000 cfs.  This has already happened three times this year.  This ain't normal, y'all.

Here are data from the current flood.  We hadn't returned to normal flow following the second flood event before this third one occurred:

I much prefer riding outside, but sometimes Zwift is a welcome option.  It's very unusual for me to ride Zwift more than once in a single week, but today I'm looking at my third Zwift ride this week!

Velo Love

Regardless of the weather, we still got to celebrate love on Valentine's Day.  My gift to Robert is one that I get to use, too - the best kind!

I served us a tapas-style Valentine feast of cheese (on this plate!), crackers, wine, mixed green salad, fancy olives, rosemary cashews, and homemade truffles.

February has been fickle, but my love for cycling (and Robert!) isn't.

Another Peach Peloton Season

It's hard to believe that today was the season's last Peach Peloton.  Well, it was the last road edition of the season - Robert is leading a bonus mountain bike ride next Saturday, but I won't be there because I can't keep up on mountain bikes, and (more importantly) I'll be volunteering with MATHCOUNTS next Saturday.

For many years we wrapped up Peach Peloton season with the Pine Mountain Challenge, a 130-mile ride from Barnesville to Pine Mountain and back.  Although we weren't quite that ambitious today, we did the longest ride of this season, the Cody 99.  These were primarily roads that Cody likes to ride near his home in Barnesville.  Some of them were new ones for Peach Peloton, which is always fun.  A few roads nostalgically overlapped the old Pine Mountain Challenge route.

I kept up for most of today's ride.  That's mainly because there were no attack zones.  The bandanna contest (yellow for attack zones and green for sprints) ended last week when the season winners couldn't be caught.

We had a store stop at mile 60.  Robert headed out first because he had broken a cable, making it difficult to match the pace of the peloton.  After some brief refueling, I also rolled out before the rest of the group to keep from getting too cold.

For a few miles after the store stop, I didn't think I would ever get warm again!  Eventually, though, I felt better.  I kept up a good tempo, wondering when the rest of the guys would catch me.

Soon enough, they did catch me.  I hoped that I would be able to keep up the rest of the way, given the relatively moderate pace we had been riding.  Alas, that wasn't too be.  They dropped me on a big climb.  Later, I found out that they picked up the pace significantly during that last part of the ride, dropping several others.

Even though I had to ride solo at the end, I had a good ride.  I motivated myself to keep up a certain average speed and average power, and I met my goals!

Robert had given me a heads up that the route was 99 miles long.  Of course that meant that I had to ride a little extra at the end.  I wasn't the only one.  Seven of us - everyone but Robert and Allen - gave in to their OCD impulses to get 100 miles.

I got  dropped almost every week this Peach Peloton season.  Most weeks it was cold, windy, and/or rainy.  That probably doesn't sound too pleasant, but these rides help me be a better cyclist.  Also, my PP guys mean a lot to me.  It's not that we talk that much during the ride, but I know they are there, and I know how they ride.  There's a comforting familiarity from them as well as the roads of Middle Georgia.  See you all again in about six weeks when Tuesday Worlds starts back!  Ride on!

Happy New Year! Athens 200K Brevet 2020

Audax Atlanta hosted the Athens 200K brevet to kick off the new year yesterday.  Despite a chilly start in the upper 30s, the weather was excellent for January 1, and the companionship certainly was warm.  I rode with Graham, Ian, Josh, and Julie.

The first control on the Athens 200K route is the same first control as the Chops & Hops Populaire.  In my last blog post on 12/30/19, I wrote about the outstanding biscuits at this convenience store.  Although I didn't get a biscuit yesterday, I stood in line next to a woman who was getting some.  She said that she goes there seven days a week to get biscuits for her husband and her for breakfast.  That's a fairly long haul because she said she lives in Between, which is on the other side of Monroe from the convenience store.  Later I told Robert about this woman getting biscuits every day.  He was amazed, saying how extreme that is.  As someone who rides 200K or longer for "fun," I simply think the woman has good taste in biscuits.

About 85 miles into the ride, I realized that we had ridden quite a distance.  It's amazing how quickly the miles fly by when you're with good friends.  Graham had a great quote: "We're loners, but we're togethers, too."  That's one of the best and most succinct descriptions I've heard of us tail-end-of-the-bell-curve people who do ultra riding.

Additionally, riding long distances gives us time to ponder philosophical questions.  For example, because cows have four stomachs, does that mean that they have to take four times as much Maalox as a human?

Ian described a category in the board game Cranium in which you have to hum a song for others to guess.  He said it was really difficult to hum "Staying Alive" by the Bee Gees.  I thought about that later and ran a test case on Robert.  I hummed it for him, and he guessed it right away.  Apparently, Ian needs to work on his humming skills.  By the way, I would pay money to hear Ian hum "Staying Alive."  I couldn't get him to demonstrate.

Late in the ride, I noticed Ian's socks as he was pedaling in front of me.  The backs of his socks were blue and fuzzy, reminding me of Cookie Monster.  He said that they are possum socks from New Zealand.

(mic drop)

I don't know that I have truly coveted anything before.  Apparently New Zealand possums are much furrier than North American possums.  But then I worried that possums were harmed in the making of the socks.  I did a little research later.  This species of possum is unrelated to the North American possum.  It was introduced from Australia to New Zealand in 1837 to bolster the possum fur trade.

Finding abundant food and having no natural predators, the possums became a non-native, invasive species in New Zealand.  This is exacerbated by the fact that New Zealand is isolated geographically as well as from an evolutionary standpoint.  Possums overgraze native plants and prey on the eggs and chicks of endangered New Zealand birds, including the iconic kiwi.

Possums are exterminated in New Zealand as part of conservation efforts.  It just so happens that their fur also makes great socks and other apparel because it's insulating, it absorbs moisture, and it's lightweight.  Maybe we all should get possum socks, a la Oprah: You get possum socks!  And you get possum socks!  Everyone gets possum socks!

I was laughing to myself all day because I was the only native Southerner on the ride.  I'm sure no one else put on black eyed peas to soak before they headed out at o' dark thirty for the ride.  Also, no one else was anxious to get home to cook black eyed peas and collard greens for New Year's.  Fortunately, I got home in plenty of time to cook our traditional New Year's Day feast for Robert and me: grits & greens, cornbread, baked sweet potato, bacon and black eyed peas.

Happy New Year!