Biker Chick

Ellie’s illness had wiped out our weekend and triggered cancellation of plans on saturday and sunday including time with the Moore’s.    In raw evidence of my high level of self centerdness, I became visibly angry that I was not going to get to see Andy and crew because my toddler was spiking a high fever and vomiting all over Cristin.  As the morning wore on,  I was tired of only exhaling to keep positive pressure in my lungs at all time so I took Phoebe to Fort Rodman in the afternoon to go biking.  We had previously had some discussion about going someplace else to bike other than our street a few months ago and this was on her list of priority thoughts so when I asked her if she wanted to bike in the Lane she got very upset.  She is clearly not ready for streets with traffic or the bike path so on a friend’s suggestion we went to Fort Rodman in New Bedford.   Also known as Fort Taber for reasons that nobody seems to be able to explain,  Ford Rodman is a civil war era fort on a peninsula that juts out into Buzzard’s Bay, one of the most beautiful spots around.  This area also features the Miliken Battery, a World War II era bunker and military installation that now serves as a shelter for teens to conduct their sketchy activities.   It is completely dilapidad but removing that amount of concrete is near impossible so it has become part of the landscape.  Other features of the peninsula include my workplace (SMAST) and the local water treatment plant – good planning New Bedford!!!.   New Bedford has a strong history of destroying good waterfront real estate with (1) heavy-metal producing factories, (2) power plants, (3) waste water treatment plants, and (4) a two-mile, three-story high pile of rocks known as the Hurricane Barrier which has “saved more money than it cost” in some kind of overly simplistic economic analysis.  New Bedford is reclaiming its waterfront and in my time working here I have seen dramatic improvements including connecting the working waterfront with the incredibly well preserved historical section.  Enough about New Bedford.  I had a great time with Phoebe and she rode the full path in blistering heat and other than both of us verbally misidentifying the gender of a individual seated near us when we stopped for snacks, the ride went without a hitch.  When we got back to SMAST we headed in to cool off and look at the animals in the wetlab for the fifth time and set out for home.  I had brought her scooter to keep her entertained while I packed up and put the bike on the roof and she decided she wanted to scooter back to the Fort.  I like to push these kids but was a bit hesitant about this given the heat.  She convinced me and I reapplied lotion and we headed out, me on foot.  She can scooter faster than I can walk but slower than I can jog so I found it a bit awkward to keep up with her and ended up drenched in sweat.