Biking

Earlier this week, I took out my keys and discovered that one key inexplicably had become wedged in the ring of another one such that I could not for the life of me untangle them. It was like one of these mechanical disentanglement puzzles that I was never very good at solving. All week I wrestled with them every time I took them out, alternating between reasoned calculation and frustrated acts of force, but with no success.

Yesterday morning after finishing a rather unproductive session of dissertation writing at the coffee shop, I put the pointy ball of keys in my pocket for the ride to work. When I arrived and took them out to lock up, I noticed with some amazement that they were no longer tangled. Apparently, my peddling for 25 minutes was smarter than days of conscious effort, but at this point I wasn't complaining.

I took it as a metaphor for writing, reminding me that sometimes writing happens best when I'm trying the least. Of course, a good deal of writing happens with deliberate, focused attention on the task, but I should never discount the subconscious work of writing that often gets me through the knottier periods when I can't seem to untangle a particular ball of thoughts. Quite regularly the real writing of the morning happens either on the ride to work when the ideas are still warm from a couple hours of writing or on the ride home when thoughts re-animate themselves once I've relaxed my white-knuckled grip on them.

Writing is not a brain-in-a-vat activity; it is as embodied as anything else, even though it's easy to forget when I'm in the mode of writing that involves putting words on the page. Biking is my favorite way to write when I'm not at the computer, but running or walking or taking a shower often can work just as well--whatever method let's the body do some of the heavy lifting for a while so the mind get the sweat out of its eyes and tie its shoes before making its next sentence.

A short video from my bike ride to work this morning.

"Why bike to work?" Because you might see something interesting along the way, according to Phillip Barron at nicomachus.net. Phillip emailed me with link to this great slideshow of photos he's taken while biking in the Durham, NC area. I like the way he includes a bike in each image, as if to remind us that the bike not only transportation that gets us around but a vehicle for seeing the world on a daily basis.

View Phillip's photo gallery: http://www.nicomachus.net/why_ride/

Thanks to Sara for sending this my way. I couldn't have said it better myself.

 

In the space of two hours on Friday afternoon, I closed on a condo in Jamaica Plain and picked up a fixed gear bike at Ace Wheelworks in Somerville. Sorry to drop this news on you without any run-up, but that's just the way it has to be. I can't really explain why I haven't written about any of this all summer, but it was apparently too much to both blog about major life decisions and make them at the same time.

Buying this condo happened rather quickly--I got my real estate agent on June 21 and I closed on August 24th--so I haven't had time for much else besides work, dissertation, and a bit of summer fun here and there. I realized during this process that I've been unconciously cultivating an image of myself as a rootless nomad, about to pick up and move at any moment, when in fact there's little evidence for this--after all, I lived in my place in Allston for 7 years. But it was a frame of mind that I think grew from the kind of transient neighborhood Allston was and from my ongoing ambivalence about being in Boston.

But now I'm settling in, at least for the time being, and it feels good. I'm excited about my little corner of JP with it's Minton Stables community garden and Franklin Franklin just a short walk in either direction. I'm excited about the chance to learn from being in a vibrant urban neighborhood, and trying a new relationship to place.

I closed on Friday and moved in on Saturday, which happened to be the hottest day of summer. In a true test of friendship, Cathy, Nirmal, Cheryl, Andy, Alan all showed up to give me a hand, and we managed to sweat our way through the move in an efficient three and half hours. Thanks everyone--it was a great way to start things off.

I'm also beginning a new relationship with my bike--a fixed gear Redline 9-2-5 --which has been a joy to ride so far. I'm still getting used to the new connection we have, in particular the obligation to keep peddling--all the time--but it's clearly the best way to commute every day in all weather without the hassles of unnecessary maintenance.

I'm finding that a bit of fixity can be a good thing, whether it be in mortgages or gears, and I'm glad to have the chance to experience both.