The Reason Why

Not often you find an account and explanation so personal as this.

via Change Your Life, Ride A Bike

"In our youngest sons’ medical record there’s a medical report from the children’s hospital in Esslingen to our children’s doctor, dated the 30th of January 2007. The introduction begins:

“Report of the above named patient who was brought to our emergency department at 07:54 this morning. Found this morning …breathing loudly and drowsy. emergency doctor called, on arrival patient unresponsive…“

I can’t read those rather undramatic words without remembering the fear I felt holding my tiny six-month-old baby and trying to get him to wake up, move, respond, anything. I remember the rasping wheezing sound of his breath as I tried to call the advice line to see what I could do, and being met with a barrage of questions about my insurance details, address, and other things that I really didn’t what to deal with right then, before explaining the symptoms and hearing the words “Call an ambulance”. Well, gee thanks. I could have done that three precious minutes ago.

The dispatcher told me the emergency doctor was on his way, and to wait outside the house for them to come so they could find us quickly, so I stood outside for a private eternity, trying to stay calm so my family wouldn’t get even more scared, while a truck decided to deliver in the shop next door and caused a traffic jam in both directions. The doctor’s red and white mercedes came, blue lights reflecting off the houses, and they piled out carrying oxygen bottles, monitoring devices and other unfamiliar but strangely comforting tools of the trade, asking questions even before they were through the door.

Our little boy still wouldn’t respond to light, noise or gentle shaking so an ambulance was called. We carried him there, lit by flashing blue lights, with neighbours watching through the windows, although I admit I felt a slight stab of justice when I saw the Ambulance was parked in the loading bay, blocking the truck in.

After continual talking and massaging in the ambulance, I was rewarded by a squeeze of his fingers as we rattled through the morning rush-hour traffic, and the ambulance drivers were fairly confident that he’d be okay, but he didn’t really seem to wake up until he was being examined in the hospital. The form shows a great long list of things they checked before coming to the eventual conclusion it was Croup, probably aggravated by the Feinstaub (Particle pollution) from diesel engines: at the time we were living in an apartment next to a street with 1500 trucks and 13000 cars passing daily.

That morning ‘caring for the environment’ became personal. For me it’s not just about ‘looking after the earth’ but a memory of waiting for the doctor and not knowing if my little boy would die. I don’t want other parents to have to stand on the street, praying the ambulance will come quickly, that their child will wake up or just keep breathing.

We’d followed the cultural belief that ‘one day’ we would have to get a car but on January 30th 2007, that changed. Our family learned first hand the cost of society’s addiction to driving everywhere, and decided we won’t live that way. The process that resulted in us getting the Xtracycle, going to Amsterdam and bringing a bakfiets to Stuttgart and much else, was kicked into high gear that morning.

We’re a car free family in a car obsessed culture: this is our story."

Hear that? That's the sound of me writing this onto my list of reasons why I don't drive.

On Differences Of Ideals:

Dad: How's the bike doing?
Alex: Pretty good; I haven't taken the bus once yet, so yeah, it's running good.
D: Well, just make sure you check up on the brakes and everything now and then.
A: Yep, I know. Full tune-up at most of the shops is around sixty or seventy bucks, and I can do the brakes and stuff myself too, so I'm not worrying about it.
D: Well, just remember that for the same price as a few tune-ups, you can just get rid of your old bike and buy a new one, right.
A: ......

We.... have some difficulties sometimes.



Felt like sharing a little more about my place. This is our dining "room;" I took the picture a few weeks ago cause the sun was coming through the window in a magical way.



I love our kitchen table. Basically, our suite is just a big (and awesome and bright) hallway that wraps around the center of the house, and the kitchen and dining room make up one of the sides of the square. The whole front of the house sports a massive window, and so does the northwest corner of the suite, which is the kitchen table's corner; suffice to say, the whole place is always bright and we get some positively beautiful lighting sometimes.

It's also fabulous for people watching, and we've vicariously adopted the cat that is always in the apartment window across the street at breakfast time. We have named him Charles Mortimer. He is chubby.

Doubling

(via Cycle Chic)

Doubling. I've been wanting to try this for ages.

Last night, I finally got to. Eden came by after work for some supper and some mutual drooling over my new mandolin (seriously - this thing is sexy), and she was without a bike because of some timing issues in the morning. Anyway, she decided to head home fairly late in the evening, and I suggested that I give her a ride home on my bike. We got a cushion from the couch to go on the pannier rack, and she rested her feet one on the frame and the other on the pannier strap like a stirrup.

Starting was..... difficult. Riding with fully double my normal body weight was a little disorienting for balance, to say the least. Took us a little ways to get started, with a lot of wobbling (and equal amount of laughing); thank God the back of my house is on an honest-to-God ALLEY. Then we had to go up a little hill to curve around down to cross Cook for Haultain - it felt like the back tire was flat. Fortunately, we didn't have to stop to cross Cook so we kept the momentum going, and once we were on Haultain it was just wonderful. I more or less was used to the balance, so we just rode along at a nice, leisurely pace, laughing and chatting. It's even eaiser to talk while doubling than when riding seperately, because your partner is always just right behind you. The wobbling and teetering about just adds hilarity and laughter too, once you get used to it (a little terrifying at first, but in reality no less safe than driving a car down the road). There was one moment where we had to stop to cross Bay, and we almost fell over trying to start with two cars behind us. Fortunately, it's Victoria: cars are already used to dealing with cyclists, and they were even more careful since they very rarely see TWO people on a bicycle that isn't built for two.

In a nutshell, it was the most fun I've had in a long time and I never want to give someone a ride in a car again. It was a pure delight to just ride and chat with someone right behind me, and it was just so FUN - we were laughing and yelling in mock (and not-so-mock)terror the whole time. As Eden said too, it's really a huge trust-building thing too. I think it took no small amount for her to ride on the back and trust me to keep the bike upright and moving forward.

And also, now I can truthfully tell my old roommate Jin that, actually, you CAN pick up chicks on a bicycle. Suck it, Jin. (Just kidding. We need to go to the pub sometime.)

"Hey Eden, what's better than driving a car?"
"Biking"
"And what's better than BIKING"
"...."
"BIKEPOOLING"
"YES"

Quote of the Week (so far)

"Man, WCB would have a field day with that. I mean, where the hell would you file 'some crazy girl walked in and kicked me in the tits?'"

I think I like my new roommates and the people they're friends with.