Good morning, friends from Hive and from any corner of the world who might happen to land on this blog... oh dear, what a long greeting... clearly I’ve got a lot on my mind. Let’s see if it all manages to come out without too much stumbling.
With this time change we’ve got now, the sun rises earlier—I mean, it starts shining its kindness over everything from 6:38 a.m. I lit up my house around 4 a.m., when I no longer wanted to stay in bed, partly because I had an urgent need: I was so thirsty, as if I’d been pedalling all night without drinking a drop of water. 😁
So there I was in the kitchen, glass of water in hand, eyes half-closed, savouring the water and everything it means to me at that hour... I know, I know, some people don’t like drinking water. I’ve got a friend who moved to Mexico a while ago and, well, she’s addicted to Coca-Cola. Her WhatsApp statuses were always memes about Coke, and every time I saw them, all I could think was: people use Coca-Cola to clean toilets. I’ve never used it for that, but some folks do... and just two or three days ago, I saw Coke again in her status. I don’t know why I got nosy and messaged her: “Girl, stop drinking that stuff—it’s poison.”
Oh look, it’s nearly sunrise... I just had a sneezing fit. Went to the bathroom and blew my nose. Oh, and I looked in the mirror and saw my cheeks were all red. That must be because yesterday, in the middle of the day, under the blazing sun, I decided to use the electric trimmer to clear the overgrown grass out front. I come up with the wildest ideas—worse than drinking Coke. Anyway... what was I saying? Ah yes, my friend replied: “I’m cutting back. Now one Coke lasts me two days.” Well, she knows best... I wonder if it’s a can or a two-litre bottle. Because if it’s the latter, how much was she drinking before? 😟
Anyway... what I really wanted to write in this post is that I’m heading out now on my bike with the first light of day, off to Quinta de los Molinos, where the Biology students from the University of Havana will be bird ringing.
It’s 6:32 a.m.—not long now until official sunrise... haha... according to this website I was checking it earlier and saw the reminder that days are shorter and winter nights (what winter?) are longer. I don’t feel like I had a long night. Sometimes I do, when I have those dreams... but today I didn’t remember a thing. Maybe if I try hard... 🤔
One of the thoughts I had after waking up thirsty was something I saw yesterday on Instagram reels: the actor Robin Williams believed that cycling was a kind of active meditation, and he owned over 100 custom-made bikes.
No, I’m not addicted to Coca-Cola, but I am, in a way, addicted to cycling. And I do believe that pedalling—that repetitive motion—and focusing on your breath and the road puts you in a flow state, much like meditation. The brain releases endorphins and dopamine, and you feel good, and because you’re focused on that activity, you stop thinking about a thousand things... things you don’t need to think about, things that stress you out. Neuroscientific studies say that rhythmic activities like cycling help regulate the amygdala, the part of the brain responsible for processing emotions—especially fear and anxiety.
🤓
I’m getting an idea for this post. If you’ve read this far, come back later tonight—I’ll be updating it with more photos from today’s cycling adventure. And a little preview of what I’ll be witnessing at Quinta de los Molinos, a botanical garden I wrote about recently. I said I’d do a post about bird ringing too. Looks like that’s what’s coming tomorrow—if life allows.
For now, I’ll leave these photos here. Don’t worry, I’ll tell you all about it in detail. I know, I know—I’ve been saying that for days... it’s just to get you hooked on me, not on Coca-Cola. Haha... a hug full of light for you, my faithful companion!
🙃
What I saw today (editing this post as promised to include a short video and a photo)
Music by Julian_Rocha from Pixabay.
Original content by 
Every image I include in my posts is mine. When it’s not, I credit the source in a caption.