Beautiful Day for a Bike Ride

I consider myself to be both a Californian and a New Yorker and, as such, I continually find myself comparing my two home states to one another. After four and a half years of comparison I feel confident in saying that the biggest difference between New York and California is the weather. Coming in a close second is NY’s profound lack of decent Mexican food…

In general Southern Californians rarely consider the weather. The school calendars don’t have to leave room for snow days. Theme parks don’t have to close for the winter. And invitations to summer barbeques don’t have to come with the disclaimer, “Weather permitting.” Basically, it’s always pleasant in So Cal- heck, you can practically wear flip flops year round!-  and even when it rains people are in good spirits just because the rain is such a novelty. No one frets about the forecast in California. In fact, the only reason we watch the morning weather report is to find out whether or not we need to throw a hoodie into our beach bag on the way out the door.

But to New Yorkers, weather is everything. Our entire lives are impacted by the slightest change in climate. We hesitate to make plans too far in advance because we need to see the forecast first. Our hottest summers are unbearably humid and our coldest winters are far below freezing. So when it’s 30 degrees and sunny, like it was earlier this week, a New Yorker doesn’t hesitate to get outside and enjoy the beautiful weather!

When I saw the forecast for Wednesday I knew exactly what we were going to do that day. Jamie’s grandparents sent him a gift card for his birthday so I took the kids to Toys 'R Us and we picked out a couple of new bicycles. While checking out at the register I was asked if we wanted to pay the extra $10 for assembly and come back the next day to pick up our bicycles. I was very tempted, but knowing that the weather was supposed to take a turn for the worst, I declined and decided I’d assemble the bikes myself. Josie and Jamie were so excited about their new bikes that they refused to fall asleep on the car ride home even though it was late in the afternoon and they were both exhausted from a busy day. Jamie, especially, kept his eyes fixated on the shiny new bicycle sitting in the folded-down back seat beside him. I think he was afraid that if he was to lose sight of it for an instant it might mysteriously disappear. Once we arrived home I moved quickly to break open the box, locate the tools, and begin assembly before we ran out of daylight. I didn’t bother telling the kids to take their naps. There was no waiting until tomorrow to ride bikes, because tomorrow was bringing rain and snow.  I worked as quickly as I could and we hustled outside with our helmets. My construction work was faulty and the bikes were close to collapsing into pieces while the kids attempted to ride them down the street. But they didn’t care in the least. They were just too happy to be outside, breathing in the fresh air, playing and laughing. It was a beautiful day for a bike ride.

This scene reminds me of racing my brother and sister down the dirt road that ran beside our house as kids...minus the snow banks.

I am so happy that we took advantage of the opportunity when it arose because, sure enough, today we are snowed in. New Yorkers have a deep appreciation for beautiful weather that Californians will never understand. And what do Californian’s have (besides great weather, that is)? They have unbeatable Mexican food.