it's good to be home

saturday was one of those days that make me remember some of the things i do love about california.

i pulled sadie (the bike) out of her year long retirement, wiped her down, filled her tires, and load her on the car rack before heading down to meet jami at the church for a ride and some beach time.

this weekend was our annual mid-singles conference, and for the first year since my arrival in california, i opted to abstain from most of the activities.  mostly i was just road weary and knew i wouldn't have the social energy to make the most of the weekend, but, since the saturday afternoon schedule coincided nicely with my great need for some surf and sand, i made this one exception.

i was happy to be back on the bike, even though i knew my knee would not be so happy later, and i was happy to sit myself down on a towel and do some people watching before jami and i were met by another friend, whitney, and a visiting friend of hers.

after an hour or so of 'relax time' the four of us got back on our bikes and headed down to the pier to witness the huntington beach duck-a-thon. it's an annual event where folks can purchase rubber duckies (proceeds donated to charity).

it was a fun and unique experience to see the two john deere tractors roll slowly up the pier and release their rubber ducky loads into the ocean, where surfers maneuvered the waves and the ducks as they raced their way to the shore.  we watched until the first duck made landfall and a volunteer swooped it up, running to the announcer's booth, hand held high like she'd found the golden ticket.

 if only 'chariots of fire' had been playing, it would have been perfect, but i'll settle for nearly perfect any day!