Life in a Day

I wake him up, "It's 10 am". He shifts in the bed, "oh, now it is too late to get the bike fixed"! I encourage him to get up and even if he takes thirty minutes to get ready, we will still have another thirty to walk down to the cyclery before his on-call starts. We end up getting ready in fifty minutes, neither of us surprised :)

He picks up his work laptop and work phone- and his brains- the three arrows in his on-call quiver. While he checks the tire pressure in his bike, I am leaning against the wall which the bike leans against. On that wall are three framed photos. One of them is of our engagement party. I had a mauve silk gown on, he a suit paired with a mauve tie. I suggest to him, "I will re-wear this gown on my cousin's wedding. You could wear that suit or maybe a kurta-pyjama, whichever you like'. He responds, "I will wear whatever the dress code asks of me". I say, "Yes of course. Let's wait for my cousin to share the details". He shakes his head, wise from experience, saying, "Your cousin got no role in this. Dress code will be set by his bride". I chuckle as I get reminded of our wedding prep days.

We cross the street while the traffic signal-speaker and my brain chant "yellow lights are flashing!" We are walking through the neighborhood with many standalone homes and a apartment building that looks like a motel converted into rental units. Some homes have lemon trees, which we both like to look at as we walk by. From an alley, another pedestrian joins right behind us. She is on the phone, loudly recapping her conversation with a friend who probably needs to relocate and move on. Both of us lead quietly while the "get-your-life-back-on-track-talk" follows us for three more intersections. 

As we head towards the cyclery,  a couple cycles by in the opposite direction. After we are done with getting his bike inspected, we walk towards a cafe for brunch. We enjoy acai bowls, panini, a game of "Connect-4" and a round of Jenga. We head out and I try to cycle for a bit but find the bike seat a bit higher for my height. He cycles for a few minutes and is smiling throughout. His work phone rings. Nothing from the on-call front, just a reminder for him to fill a colleague's performance review. We walk back towards home. This time, some lemon trees and a lot of cacti and succulents. The phone rings again. Still no urgent work thing, only some colleague thanking him for something. I smile and we continue walking. 

We reach our apartment building and he asks me to try and cycle again. I get on it. The seat and pedals are at ok heights. He holds the bike and I pedal. Feels like I will topple over any second. I tell him, "the bike is too heavy for me. I will try again later". He chuckles knowing what later means. He rides the bike for a quick round around our neighborhood while I stand under a tree to catch a breath from all the walking and a few seconds of biking. We get back in, he turns on the TV and falls asleep on the couch.

My favorite kind of Saturday, really :)