Sunny Coffee Ride

We're headed for spring. When you go out just before nine am, as I did again this morning, the sun is just the sun. It's still low in the sky, but it's no longer red or rising at that hour. We are, of course, more than a month past the winter equinox. One day last week I came home at 5:45 pm. I had run my lights the final half hour, but riding into town I also realized that I had never felt the need to take off my sunglasses. I was all bundled up this morning, because last night Weerstation de Arend predicted that the windchill this morning would be -11 Celcius, which is getting into serious territory. There was also supposed to be a stiff east wind. The wind was there, but it really wasn't that cold. The temperature gauge in Loosdrecht said it was exactly zero Celcius; the one in Maartensdijk had it one above. It was a little bit of work, riding into the wind, but it really wasn't bad. I got to Lage Vuursche a few minutes before ten. Our server had redone her hair. Not recognizing her silloutte walking in, I thought at first that she might not be working. But she was, and she brought out our coffees without us having to order them first. Regulars. Utrecht had chosen the tractor, so for much of the way home I was by myself. It was eventful, however: swan on the ice in Westbroek; two girls on bikes in Polder Bethune riding out onto the road right in front of me, just using their ears to watch for traffic (a common occurence both in the U.S. and over here); and the same old guy who a couple of weeks ago, riding a tandem with his wife along the Vecht, looked funny at my balaclava did so again today. I think he and his wife just come out on cold days to see if they can embarrass me with their bare, grey heads. But even though I'm not nearly as old, I'm still old enough not to care, except about being warm, to the point where I'd much rather be overheating a little than the other way around.