May 21st, 2007
- On Friday, I rode my bike to work and back (20 miles round trip) for Bike to Work Week (May 14-18), which was super awesome. I’m now officially part of “the cool kids’ club”. (You know the one.) Julia and I are going to try to bike every Friday to work together.
- That evening, after our triumphant arrival back at the Park N Ride where we had parked to ride our bikes, we met up with Clinton for dinner at the Mellow Mushroom and then hung out at the Durham 3rd Friday Art Walk. Saw a photo exhibit on Native Americans and toured an old fashioned printing press and bookbinding shop.
- On Saturday, we Fartlekers ran two times - once at 7:15 AM by ourselves and then again at 8:30 AM with our Running Start trainees, who are now in Week 8 of the 10-week program for new runners. They are doing great! Only a couple more weeks ’til their big graduation - the June 9th Race for the Cure.
- After running, I met up with Clinton and we had such an enjoyable morning together at the Durham Farmer’s Market (the best market in the world). We bought Asian chard, baby zucchini, fresh bread and goat cheese. I also scored five small interestingly-shaped glass bottles which I plan to use as funky vases, at The Scrap Exchange. Then we ate a wonderful brunch at the Piedmont.
- Afterward (still Saturday!), I met up with Julia again to go on a tour of Durham on bikes with the Durham Bicycle Co-op, which included a stop for treats at LocoPops (I tried Mango Chile flavor - spicy!) and ended at the Co-op headquarters for an outdoor cookout. Beans, salad and homemade mac n cheese for vegetarians!
- Then (still Saturday!) Clinton and I drove to the awesome town of Pittsboro, North Carolina, which is about 45 minutes to the southwest of Durham. It’s full of nice hippies who grow their own food and make their own biofuel. We window shopped a bit and then ate an indescribably delicious meal at the General Store Cafe which ended with a fresh, four-berry cobbler topped with homemade vanilla bean ice cream. It practically made us cry. The restaurant is very unique in that everything is organic, homemade and locally produced. Also, the dining tables are in little semi-private nooks filled with shelves of used and new tschotchkies (pottery, jewelry, clocks, etc.) and books for sale. For reasons I cannot explain, I could not leave the restaurant without purchasing a large fluffy raven puppet.
- On our drive back home to Durham that evening, we saw a dog on the side of the highway that looked scared and lost. We pulled over and finally got it to come over to us. She was super skinny and covered with ticks, but very friendly, and she allowed Clinton to put her in the car. We drove immediately to PetSmart for flea/tick shampoo. Grappling with her in the shower was quite an adventure. Despite her undernourishment, she is surprisingly strong! We pulled out all the ticks and put a collar on her. She and Charlie are the best of friends, and she doesn’t seem to want to hurt Violet the cat. She spent the whole weekend with us. We’ve named her Daisy and decided that we want to keep her and make her a part of our family.
- Today I took Daisy to the Animal Protection Society of Durham, where she has to spend at least one week while they try to figure out if anyone is looking for her. I called the Pittsboro Animal Control and two Pittsboro veterinary offices to let them know we’d found her, just in case. After Memorial Day weekend, if no one has claimed her, we can then proceed with adoption. Here are some pictures of Daisy, with Clinton and Charlie.
- On Sunday (yesterday), six of us runner ladies went on a long bikeride. We started at my house and went up into the rolling farmlands of North Durham. About halfway through, one lady - a dear, dear friend - flew off her bike when her tire hit the tire of another bicyclist. She landed on her head and slid for a while (thank goodness she was wearing a good helmet!!) fell unconscious, and had to be taken to the emergency room by ambulance. We spent several hours at the hospital while they did CAT scans and a test for spinal damage. Both were negative, but they had some trouble keeping her vital signs stable throughout the evening. The scariest part for me was that we lost her for a minute when her blood pressure dropped off completely. Thankfully, the medical staff were able to revive her, and her vitals are all back to normal now. It was quite a day yesterday, and we were all pretty shaken up. Her family is checking her out of the hospital today. Bottom line is that we are so, so glad that she is okay. I feel differently about life today.
Posted in by Crystal | By Crystal
May 21st, 2007 at 4:06 pm
[...] Crystal and I had a very eventful weekend, as she puts it. I’d say it was great, but it ended a little tragically. Still, we had more fun during the first two days of it than one could imagine, and at the end of the day, we found, half-starved and covered in ticks, a sweet pit bull named Daisy on the side of the road. [...]
May 21st, 2007 at 8:13 pm
Good gravy! Ya’ll sure do live life to the fullest!
Welcome, Daisy!
I’m glad you pulled through, Cycling Lady!
Wow. What a weekend!