As If I Didn’t Worry Enough Already

Thanks so much for all of your kind comments about our deck and the flowers. For those confused on how exactly the deck changed, here are the before and after pictures:

BEFORE

This was taken last summer but you can see how gray and dingy the deck looks, we had power washed all of the paint off and were left with nasty looking pine.

AFTER

Nice new cedar boards and rather than replacing the frame, Brian just painted around the bottom of the deck to match the house. Fresh paint and wood – smells so good!

We have had a great tragedy in our town this past week. A local bike enthusist, husband and father of 4 was hit by a car while riding his bike to the gym early one morning on a popular local road about a week ago. He was in a drug induced coma for about a week while they waited for his brain swelling to go down and unfortunately, his heart stopped and he passed away a few days ago.

I can’t tell you how much a little part of me dies every time Brian leaves the house on his bike. Will he come home? Will some driver lose his patience while driving behind Brian? Will some driver not be paying attention? Driving too fast? Drunk?

We have no bike lanes in our city, so safe place for bike riders to ride and so many more people are taking to their bikes these days for exercise and to save themselves money with the high gas prices.

While I am devestated for this family for their loss, I hope it might be a wake up call for our community that something needs to be done to make the streets safer for bike riders.

To read more about the story on this man, check out his family’s blog here.

I know we are all in a hurry these days but when you come across a bike rider, try to be patient and give them room on the roads. And pay attention while you are driving so you don’t miss them. One phone call, one cry from your child in the back seat could be the difference between life and death for some innocent bike rider.