Recent posts by both Dex and Pep, I was reminded how lucky I am to live where I live. Here in Missoula, it’s a comfortable 71%, no humidity, clear and sunny. I look out my South-facing office window over Pattee Canyon and look forward to my two mile bike ride home on a bike path where, when I do encounter a street with cars on it, the cars actually stop to let me cross.I’ve been biking everywhere for almost two months, now, since Perceval, my ‘85 Volvo wagon, died (bad fuel pump). So far, I have commuted to werk 48 consecutive days, in rain and snow and sun. That’s 96 miles for those of you without a calculator. And, according to the Missoula in Motion site, I have conserved 77.73 pounds of carbon dioxide by commuting.

I don’t have to drive two hours to float a river, I have the Blackfoot right in my backyard. I can head down to Caras Park, near the Clark Fork River downtown and catch great local music for free on a Wednesday afternoon while soaking up the sun in the grass, mountains all around me, a blue sky, the smell of cottonwoods wafting up from the river and make it back to werk in time to grab my paycheck, hop on my bike and deposit it in the bank. Getting around is easy. The scenery is great. I feel very lucky.

View from my office window