Thirty years ago I was a letter carrier with a walking route (and luxurious hair down my back--where'd all that go?). I did that for seven years and revelled in it even on the wet, nasty days, the 110+ days, and the days when every mean dog out of the 200+ on the route were out and looking for trouble. When I did finally move to an inside job in hitech, it took years to get acclimated to being out of the elements rather than being out in the elements. Unfortunately, acclimate I did, and it was only twenty years later when I started to bicycle commute that I got in touch again with all the excitement of just being outside. My old weather prediction sense, honed by years of being outside as a letter carrier, slowly came back, so I became pretty good at choosing the right clothing before swinging a leg over the bike. And just like I enjoyed the fresh feeling of walking in the rain for hours delivering mail, I now got to enjoy swishing down wet streets with my face being battered by raindrops (and how to get the shoes as dry as possible before the ride home).

In any event, now that I have reconnected with the life outdoors, I sure mean to hang on tightly this time around!