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Day Off Twofer

I'm taking a little time off in between positions - just a week or two to relax, unwind a little bit, and put the ugly denouement of my previous position out of my mind. However, I'm not really good at downtime - you know, when you spend hours of time on the couch zoning out to Netflix, or reading a book cover to cover. I like doing things more than not doing things. So today, I decided to go kayaking. But first, I had to go bike riding.

 Last night I played music with Shawn Cody and the Kodiaks - the first time we had gotten together since our gig at the end of the summer. By the time I got home from Shawn's place in Nokesville and dragged all my gear into the house (I'm too paranoid to leave anything in the car overnight) it was around midnight. As a result of getting to bed late I slept in all the way to 6 AM, which meant that when I woke up I had to pretty much hop into clothes and head right out the door to make it to the cyclist Hump Day Coffee Club in Shirlington. Yes, I skipped my usual stretching and pre-breakfast breakfast. I did not, however, skip my pre-coffee coffee; I had a cup as I got dressed and ready. Dear readers, do you really think I would ride five miles to Shirlington before sunrise without at least one cup of caffeine fuel?
Coffee Clubbers at Best Buns
Today's weather was lovely and warn and the group, which had moved inside last week, was back outside today. You can see me way in the back in the pic. And then my phone rang.

 Last August, when my job was starting to get wobbly, I sent out a bunch of resumes. As is the case these days, I heard nothing back about most of them. One government agency, though sent me any number of somewhat cryptic automated updates via email - essentially saying that my resume was progressing through their process. But obviously, it wasn't progressing too quickly. This morning at about 7:30 AM while I was at Best Buns, 2+ months after I applied, I got a call from that agency urgently wanting to set up a phone interview - today if possible! So, even though at this point I already have a job I'm about to start, I agreed to do the phone screen. The job I had applied for was an interesting one at an interesting agency and I figured it was worth it just to learn a little more about what they're up to. My intention today had been to take advantage of the warm temps and go kayaking, but I figured I could delay a half hour. After coffee club I biked home, loaded my kayak gear, and then took the call. It turns out that the two people on the phone asked four questions (What is your name? What is your quest? What is the air-speed velocity of an unladen swallow?) which I had about 30 minutes to answer, but didn't really provide any more info about the job than had been in the job posting. Oh, well.

 Once I finished with the interview, I headed out to Fountainhead Regional Park. I try to make it to this park every year around when the leaves change. In summertime the Occoquan Reservoir makes for some rather dull paddling - it's a long, fairly narrow strip of water. In autumn, though, it comes alive with color. The water reflects the trees on both banks, and on sunny days like today it's simply gorgeous. 
Along the Occoquan

 I paddled the five miles from Fountainhead Park to Bull Run Marina, stopping frequently along the way to take pictures. At one point I sat still as I drifted towards a heron so I could get its picture. I was so focused on the heron that I almost missed the deer watching me from the bank mere feet away. I got some lovely foliage pics, plus pictures of the aforementioned heron and deer, turtles and cormorants. 
Deer on the bank

 It had been my intention to take a lunch break at Bull Run, but when I got there I was reminded that it sits beside a very noisy road so instead of stopping there I found a quiet little cove on the way home where I was able to get out of the boat and dig into my delectable lunch of bread, nuts, string beans, and for dessert, coffee and the "stump" of my muffin from Best Buns. After that I booked it back towards Fountainhead.
Cormorants
Blue Heron

Needless to say, I bumped into Deke when I was almost back to the marina. Deke is everywhere. Today he was paddling with Hector, whom I had never met but who I know of because he leads a lot of Meetup trips. Hector seems like a good guy, plus he has awesomely custom-decorated his boat and paddle. His kayak looks like a graffittied 1970's New York subway car. I wish I had taken a picture- it's pretty cool. 
Turtle

 After a stop at Whole Foods, I finally made it home at about 6 PM, tired but happy. 

 Bike Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/763679825
Kayaking Strava: https://www.strava.com/activities/764187886

Oh yeah, my new car - it's awesome!

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Location: Burke, VA, USA

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