A Long Line Of Chalk

Last night there was a little break in the temperature. It was so nice at bedtime I even opened up the windows and enjoyed the nighttime sounds.

Unfortunately, it's already starting to heat up again. Before it gets too miserable Hubby Tony and I decided to take a bike ride after breakfast. My e-bike was acting fine until I left the garage. All of a sudden the electric assist stopped and the control panel went blank. There shouldn't have been any issues-the battery had been charged after the last ride. I tried turning everything on multiple times, but didn't have any luck, so I told Tony to go ahead and ride without me.

Back in the garage, I realized the key to unlock the battery pack from the bike was in the condo. I fetched it, removed the battery, brought it upstairs, and set it on the charger. After that I needed to decide what was next.

There are two full-service grocery stores within walking distance of my house. I realized I could walk to the farther of the two (a little over a mile away) and look for inspiration for tomorrow's staff luncheon at the church. I prefer that chain because I usually don't buy very much, and the store lets me make my tax exempt purchase at the self serve register. At the other store I have to get in line behind all the overflowing carts and use a cashier.

I grabbed my wallet and a bag and left the condo. By this time it was 8:30, and already starting to heat up, but there was a nice breeze blowing and enough trees to provide shade. Just past the subdivision pool I noticed someone had drawn a chalk line down the sidewalk. 

I didn't think much about it until I turned the corner and saw that the line continued on the new street. Then I couldn't help but track it. 

Sometimes the line was light, and sometimes dark. Sometimes it was straight, and sometimes curvy. Sometimes it was joined by a second line.

 When the street ended I turned left. The line still was there, but I could also see that it crossed the street to the sidewalk on the other side. On my side of the street I saw two pieces of chalk. I used one of them to sketch a smiley-faced appreciation of the work the line drawer put in.

The line continued all the way to the end of the subdivision. I turned left and the rest of the trip was uneventful. At the store I decided that tomorrow's lunch will be meatloaf, mashed potatoes, some type of vegetable, garlic bread, and cookies from the bakery. After purchasing my items I started back home.

When I reached the subdivision entrance I decided to figure out just how long the chalk line was. I took a screenshot of my health app that showed how far I had already walked. When I reached the end of the line I took another one for comparison. It was six tenths of a mile! Someone put a lot of effort into their chalking.

Five years ago: Doing My Civic Duty