One month from today I will be on a plane bound for Denver International, after bouncing through Frankfurt. The feeling of 'bigness' that precedes and proceeds a significant change in my life has begun to creep into my mind. 30 days remain and I've never been busier in my life. My blog trail has sputtered considerably, but I may catch up some of the stories one day.
Before I stop procrastinating, I do have a short tale to relate that I cannot pass up: the Scandinavian lawn game 'Kubb.' It reminds me of bocce (Italian lawn bowling) and has been likened to a combination of horseshoes, chess, and bowling (see Wikipedia article). Two sides (1-6 players ea.) face each other with a field of wooden blocks in between. Five blocks (~3x3x6 in.) standing on end, spaced about 18 in. apart, mark the 'line' of one side, while a complementary row, placed 20 or so feet away, delineates the other. In the middle of the field, a taller, thicker block, the 'king,' stands. There are six wooden sticks, broom handle-width, cut to ~10 in., that the players on one side toss and attempt to knock over the other side's five blocks. The sticks must be thrown with their ends pointing at the blocks (no 'log-roll' style), which makes for great target practise. Once a player knocks over a block, the offended side must toss it into the middle (without knocking over the 'king'). When the shooting sticks change sides, the player(s) must hit the stranded block from their own line before attempting any of the other side's pieces. When all the blocks are knocked down on one side, the attacking team waits a turn and then tries to knock down the king piece. Once the mighty wooden monarch falls, the victor is declared. It's a really fun game that can get quite heated, especially when your shooting stick bounces just around the opponent's block for the eighth straight time (during my first game). Amazing what entertainment 21 pieces of wood (add 4 boundary stakes) can provide.
I played this game last weekend with an American student friend on my time and against 2 German friends. The USA lost 5-0. Embarrassing (but what fun!).
Happy Memorial Day, people of the States!
Monday, May 25, 2009
Sunday, May 3, 2009
On Bicycles...
Today I became the 2907th person to ride my bicycle past an electronic sign keeping track of this statistic. I love this city (and country) for its deep and dedicated bike culture. In my habitual romantic outlook on life, I see a societal undercurrent of cycling being the 'purer' breed of transportation. Bike racks abound, shops do booming business, and there are more bike paths than roads, since every road has its own bike-only lane.
The affection for two-wheel (or sometimes three-wheel) mobility is more subtly apparent in the relationship between motorists and cyclists. In my own adventures on the streets of America, car drivers frequently harangue and even molest the bicycle-bound. There's mutual fault, since I've seen plenty of cyclists arrogantly filling up half or more of the vehicle lane. Yet, no clear idea of "who started it" is ever offered; only insults and too-often gory accidents echo the question. Blame is counterproductive anyway, but this dangerous reality makes the disparity between the U.S. and e.g. Copenhagen clearer to see.
Here, bicyclists are given incredible leeway. There are times when auto drivers honk, rev their engines, or narrowly miss clobbering the offending rider, but the majority of cases favor the cyclist. It helps that nearly everyone has a bike, and that brings to the fore the greatest reason for this cultural difference. Due in part to the sprawling urbaniverses (and suburbaniverses) that make up our continental geography, we Americans love our cars. Furthermore, the last five or so generations (guessing?) have, on average, made the automobile part of their personal identities. These factors (and others I don't want to cogitate about because I'm hungry and haven't blogged in forever so I want to write some of these thoughts down) have set up today's American car-centered lives. Of course there are exceptions, but I write in generalities to stave off a repetative stress disorder.
Maybe someday we will ride more bikes. I would love to see that day. I think I will abandon my efforts to institute a public bike share program on my college campus (for entirely different reasons I won't elaborate on at this time), but continue to promote the healthy, efficient, and fun habit of bicycling. Before I sign off, here's a picture of the bike I've been riding all over eastern Sjælland (Copenhagen, Lynby, Roskilde, etc...):
I bought this bike about two weeks into my stay here. It cost 600 DKK (~$100).
When I get back to Golden, I think I may try to build my own "errand bike," inspired by the picture below:
A large wooden crate or box can sit on the platform. I could haul around my groceries, books, camping gear, guitar, and a fair amount of any junk (even people!).
The affection for two-wheel (or sometimes three-wheel) mobility is more subtly apparent in the relationship between motorists and cyclists. In my own adventures on the streets of America, car drivers frequently harangue and even molest the bicycle-bound. There's mutual fault, since I've seen plenty of cyclists arrogantly filling up half or more of the vehicle lane. Yet, no clear idea of "who started it" is ever offered; only insults and too-often gory accidents echo the question. Blame is counterproductive anyway, but this dangerous reality makes the disparity between the U.S. and e.g. Copenhagen clearer to see.
Here, bicyclists are given incredible leeway. There are times when auto drivers honk, rev their engines, or narrowly miss clobbering the offending rider, but the majority of cases favor the cyclist. It helps that nearly everyone has a bike, and that brings to the fore the greatest reason for this cultural difference. Due in part to the sprawling urbaniverses (and suburbaniverses) that make up our continental geography, we Americans love our cars. Furthermore, the last five or so generations (guessing?) have, on average, made the automobile part of their personal identities. These factors (and others I don't want to cogitate about because I'm hungry and haven't blogged in forever so I want to write some of these thoughts down) have set up today's American car-centered lives. Of course there are exceptions, but I write in generalities to stave off a repetative stress disorder.
Maybe someday we will ride more bikes. I would love to see that day. I think I will abandon my efforts to institute a public bike share program on my college campus (for entirely different reasons I won't elaborate on at this time), but continue to promote the healthy, efficient, and fun habit of bicycling. Before I sign off, here's a picture of the bike I've been riding all over eastern Sjælland (Copenhagen, Lynby, Roskilde, etc...):
I bought this bike about two weeks into my stay here. It cost 600 DKK (~$100).
When I get back to Golden, I think I may try to build my own "errand bike," inspired by the picture below:
A large wooden crate or box can sit on the platform. I could haul around my groceries, books, camping gear, guitar, and a fair amount of any junk (even people!).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)