Wipeout +7, back on the wheels ... and Spring has Sprung

A week after Dave wiped out on the road and it was blood, busted shoes and bent bits on the bike, he's back on two wheels and out for a looong ride in the McLaren Vale area with the local group of Cyloholocs. He must have inherited some gene for indestructibility ... he's found a way to bounce. Maybe he has a trick of turning off 90% of gravity in the split second after the back wheel drifts away and before the kneecaps impact the asphalt ... hmph. He could at least have the common decency to be creaky for a few weeks! But noooo...

Dave's Garmin Tracker app, running in real-time. Yup. He's back on the bike

...there's livin' proof of this particular pudd'n: the Garmin tracker app, running in realtime on my phone. Phablet. Whatchamacallit. (Difficult to call it a 'phone,' because virtually the only thing it never does is make a telephone phone call. Ahhh. Anybody remember what a telephone was...?)

Meanwhile, Spring has sprung with a vengeance:

Yup. Spring is here ... kerchoo! Pear blossom and silver rain -- front garden yesterday.

Truth is, it's been spring for about three weeks now, which also means we can expect summer to come in early and fast. In the last couple of years we've seen our first hot weather in October and the first very hot weather in November -- hundred degrees in "the old money." Sigh. Means we can expect to see the really hot weather in December, and the catastrophically hot weather in January and February. Now ... will the autumn/fall come in early too? With summer starting early, we'll be very, very ready for autumn by February!

Spring! Enjoy it while it lasts --

Waterfall Creek on the Coastal Trail, at Hallett Cove

It was so lovely yesterday we couldn't stay inside while we had the chance to get out. Leaving Mike to hold down the fort (since he has bronchitis, Mom has bronchitis, and they're having coughing contests; Mom is winning, hands down), we went over to Hallett Cove and hiked the boardwalk from the Hallett Cove Conservation Park to Marino. It really was beautiful.

Above is Waterfall Creek at the bottom of its gully ... yellow soursobs in the foreground tell you exactly what time of year this is; and if you notice the stairs/guardrail at top-right of this shot, you'll see how you climb down into the gully and back out again. There's no disabled access, but if you still have your feet under you, it's great. (If you'd like to see more of Hallett Cove -- and the Conservation Park -- I posted a photo essay to Meander to the Max ... find it here.) It's also a photographer's paradise: ocean, clifftop views, windy skies, the works. Don't forget the cameras.

Right now I have my fingers crossed. I tried Chinese massage for the head-neck-shoulders on Thursday ... looking for a way to get out from under the headache that's been bugging me every single day since December 4. For a while the GP has been saying he thinks the pain is very likely coming from the neck, and ... last week I actually heard/felt something go twang!!! in the neck a few seconds before migraine broadsided me. So ... remedial massage? Got a local one? Any chance of getting acupressure massage? Turns out yes. There's a place at Colonnades which, in traditional Chinese fashion doesn't advertise. They live and thrive on word of mouth. Right.

Well, it's coming up to 48 hours since I had the neck/head/shoulder massage, and so far I've had either no pain at all, or only the most slender tendrils which don't develop into full-blown headaches. Have no idea how long the effects will last, but if they were to wear off over a couple of weeks ... it's actually rather a pleasant way to spend 30 minutes. I can do that again. Fingers crossed.