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January 14 Saturday Bicycle touring France free camped on a beach near Bonifacio Corsica The sun is shining; the sky is cloudless, blue; it is calm. How soon we forget the cold night. We pack up our bicycle touring tent and gear. Sharon discovers one of her rear pannier U-bolts has snapped off. Too many bumpy roads. We take her bottom hook and use it to replace the snapped off U-hook. From our spare parts bag we use a curtain hook and improvise a hook for her pannier spring to hook to. We push our bikes to the sea edge and eat breakfast beneath a wind sculpted half tree-half bush. The sun feels fantastic and I marvel that it is mid-January. We watch the waves endlessly ripple over the rocks on shore. I imagine the rocks as people, once young and rough, time and water have polished away their sharp edges and has made them smooth, as if accepting their fate. I mention the rocks as people analogy to Sharon and she concludes, "You mean they're worn down?" I see it all depends on one's perspective I lay under the tree and all too quickly the sun marches across the glimmering surface of the sea and eventually douses its flaming body into the distant water. We smell cooking as we head back to our secluded alcove where we left our touring bikes. We see someone has come down in a jeep-like vehicle. As the orange sunset glow fades we hear the slamming of vehicle doors and the roar of an engine. Fading into quiet, we are alone once again. It is clear. Another cold night is in store. The moon is almost full and casts my shadow darkly upon the ground. Our sleeping bag arrangement is: The bag with the liner is laid on the camp rests. The foot is zippered shut to trap air in a smaller space for our feet. We lay on top of one liner and pull the other liner and bag on top. The second sleeping bag is zipped wide open and lays on top of the first bag. We now have some bulk as it is two layers thick everywhere, including our shoulders. We tuck the edges beneath us to trap another layer of air. For good measure I put on a pair of wool socks atop my other socks. We have been going to bed fully clothed for some time now. I sleep in my socks, shorts, pants, long-sleeved sweat shirt, long sleeve shirt, my fuzzy fleece jacket, Gore-Tex rain coat, wool gloves, fleece headband and my hat. Usually I am not overly warm. Tonight we are comfy. Sharon cooks up vegetable pasta and throws in Thousand Island salad dressing with olives for a sauce. Inventive and tasty. We top it off with Camembert cheese, seedless Corsica oranges, pudding, and chocolate bar squares. We drift off to sleep listening to VOA on shortwave. |
