The Little Country Road

With the grounds crew given the day off I could roll around the little country roads on the other side of the wash. The one, in particular, the double-track that crosses over straight eastward between Claremont and Upland was especially nice - the line of Eucalyptus included some that were blooming brightly, the magenta flowers with yellow tips contrasting with the grey-green leaves (with stems matching the flowers) and, most especially, with the grey cloud-filled sky. It began to drizzle as I spun along this little country road, although I am not sure the amount of water that fell from the sky would classify it even as a drizzle. A stack of firewood, left against a barbed-wire fence was, perhaps, somewhat less organized than when originally built. It was quiet except for bird talk and my wheels rolling along the gravel surface; stopping here, and detouring there did not help me progress with any speed, and I decided that maybe it wasn't a day for speed after all. There was another of those blue-painted rocks along the little country lane; did someone have extra paint and time to go around painting random rocks, or were they some kind of marker? There was a cool little canyon where a rivulet of water started a shallow cut in the gravel. Maybe it will continue to deepen with each rain until a slice of earth falls off into the gravel pit just a few feet away. Since I was no longer concerned with speed, or even riding very far, I clambered down to the base of the gates of Mordor; someone had the same idea and painted a pair of guardian knights up near the top of the twin walls. How they managed to get up there to do so, I don't know. On my way out a younger rider flew along a trail; he had a different priority than I did - he got done quicker, but I doubt he saw nearly as much.