Ride of Silence 05 20 2015 by KimB

May 20, 2015 was the annual global event Ride of Silence. It's a massive bicycle event that aims to improve the awareness of motorists and trucks about sharing the road with cyclists and is also an annual memorial to those killed or injured over the last year. As part of the event “ghost bikes” are created by artists and placed as memorials to those who have died during the year. More than 10,000 cyclists participate every year.

Modern bicycles can easily clip along at 25mph and legally share the road with cars and trucks. Specialty cycles can reach 50mph or more going downhill. In many cities there are special bike trails or multipurpose trails for bikes, runners and walkers that keep bikes and cars separate. In places where there are no special bike trails there are bike lanes. Bike lanes are striped areas on the edges of roadways designated for cyclists. Due to the speed of modern bikes, riding on sidewalks isn't a great option even where permitted; motorists just aren't used to looking down a sidewalk for something moving at 30mph.

Outside of urban areas bikes just have to ride along the edge of the road, keeping as far to the outer edges as possible. If the outer edge is unsafe or there's no shoulder then cyclists are required to “take the lane” and move into the same traffic lane as cars until the road widens and it's safe to move over again. Many jurisdictions require cars and trucks to stay at least 3 feet away from a cyclist when passing and most big rig truckers will do more than that knowing that the effects of their slip stream can easily topple a cyclist off the roadway.

Even with all the precautions and modern safety technologies, when it comes to a collision between a cyclist and motor vehicle it's the cyclist that loses every time. Sometimes more than one cyclist will fall victim to a single car when the driver is inattentive for just a moment. A tiny lapse in concentration by a driver can wreak havoc among many families forever as their loved ones never return home from a “fun ride”.

This was my first time participating in the Ride of Silence and it was a very moving experience. We gathered at a nearby cycle shop at 6pm for instructions and safety reminders. The Fresno Police provided support from their Cycling Division and about 150 riders started along a route that would take us to Woodward Park and then loop around back to the starting area.

Once the ride started there was no talking. All communication between riders was done by hand signals. We rode at a slow pace thru the streets with our bicycle headlights and taillights set to strobe/flash. It was starting to get dark by the time we got to Woodward Park and the lights of the cyclists were amazing to watch as we wound our way along the outer pathway in near single file. Along the route were 5 ghost bikes, one for each cyclist killed this year, and many riders carried signs with the names of other riders killed or injured in accidents over the years.

It was somber reminder for everyone.

Ride of Silence 2015, Fresno California

Staging

Staging

Staging

Fresno Cycling Officers

Fresno Cycling Officers

Rollout

Rollout

En Route

Passing Woodward Park

End of Ride

Will work for chocolate

I like chocolate.

All kinds of chocolate. Chocolate bonbons, chocolate bars, chocolate cake, chocolate pie, chocolate cookies, chocolate pudding, chocolate covered nuts, and chocolate ice cream. I like drinking hot chocolate but I'm not a big fan of cold chocolate milk. In my opinion, chocolate, in all its versatile forms, is a delicious wonder of the world.

One of the first things I learned to cook was chocolate fudge. On winter evenings Mom would let me make a batch of fudge to pass around to my brothers and sisters as they played games, and to Dad as he fooled around with his amateur radio equipment, and to Mom as she read a book.

I also learned how to bake the chocolate cake listed on the label of Hershey's cocoa box. I made it so often when I got home from school in the afternoon to serve as our after dinner dessert, that I never had to use the written recipe, even during later years.

Most holidays are celebrated with sweets of some kind, but two holidays are definitely celebrated with flowers and chocolate: Valentines Day, and Easter.

Lilies and chocolate rabbits herald the beginning of Spring. Baskets filled with jelly beans, chocolate eggs, marshmallow peeps and chocolate bunnies are parallel rites to the religious holiday just like Santa Claus is a parallel tradition to Christmas.

This year, the Easter Bunny has given me enough chocolate, in the shapes of eggs and bunny rabbits, that with prudent rationing, it will last until the middle of June.

Chocolate Bunny

So How Does YOUR Garden Grow?

MrsB

I've started my spring planting by propagating leaves from my African Violet. It will be several weeks before I know the results. The leaves of the Christmas cactus that I started rooting a few weeks ago are thriving and almost ready to give to family members who want a clone of the plant Mom had enjoyed for so many years.

I can hardly call my efforts to propagate various plants real gardening. Putting an avocado seed in a glass of water until it roots, dipping violet leaves in rooting hormone, then planting it in a pot, or cloning a Christmas cactus is not what I consider gardening.

As the days warm, bedding plants will have priority over avocado seeds. Weather reports will be closely monitored. After all the plants and seeds have been planted, a waiting game commences with fingers crossed for a harvest looking like seed catalog photos.

These world famous gardens are inspiration to achieve the best garden possible.



Keukenhof Garden, Netherlands

Nong Nooch, Thailand

Shalimar, Pakistan

Esther Smith - 05/14/2015

[Note: Editor's Post]

Esther Smith passed 05/14/2015

She died peacefully at her home. Her memory remains with all who read her stories on the blog and download her cookbook.

Her contribution to the lives and well being of all around her, those who had the pleasure of meeting her in real life and those that knew her from her writings, cannot be measured except in the vast space of time.

We can morn the loss of her wisdom; just as we can celebrate her life. We have been blessed by her presence and wit.

For those who did not have the pleasure of meeting her, her writings here on the blog remain a gateway to a time that is fading with the passing of her generation. At time when Love was the only thing one needed in Life; when Trust was the only Lock on the Door and a time when Family, Friends and Neighbors were The Entire World.

KimB Editor


note: You can find the link to all her posts on the side bar along with her cookbook which is located in the download section.

Bio Printers

Virtual devices are exploding into every facet of human endeavor. A few years ago, who would have believed that computers would lead to such profound changes in our lives. They say that anything you can imagine can be achieved. Well.... someone imagined Bio Printers. The development of 3D bio printers has the magical potential of creating human organs.

Motivated by the battlefield injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan where 30% of wounds involve skin. Professor James Yoo and his group, from the Institute of Regenerative Medicine at Wake Forest University in North Carolina, are developing a system that will print skin directly onto burn wounds,

The bio printer laser scanner first determines depth and area, then converts the scan to three dimensional images that calculates how many layers of skin cells are needed to be printed on the wound. The system, so far, has successfully printed skin patches 10cm sq on a pig.

Professor Hod Lipson, director of the Cornell University Computational Synthesis Laboratory, has successfully printed ears. They have been made of silicone gel rather than human ear cells. The Cornell team is also experimenting with bio print repairs to damaged animal bones, but there are technical challenges to overcome. Repairs to cartilage will be more easily achieved.

Bio printers are standard apparatus in bio-medical laboratories and numerous experiments to create arteries, hearts and other body parts can be seen on YouTube.