Familiar places

I took a somewhat extended bike trip through Missoula today and went to a couple of my favorite places. I also went to the bank, which was nice because I had money to deposit, but more of a detour than a real stop. It did let me bike through the park, which is also nice. Some of the girls I run with say they get sick of running laps there (a lap is just a mile and a quarter) but if I'm in the right mood I could run in those circles forever. The scenery and people are changing all the time, you just have to look. Today it was a few groups of little kids at basketball camp, and the soccer player of the day (I swear, there's always someone there) was a older man kicking a ball around by himself near one of the goals. Unfortunately, though, my bank is also near the mall, which is an area that's a real pain to bike around. I felt like I was continually in the way of some car trying to pull into or out of some lot. On the other side of South, though, everything is much more residential. I rode past a little park I'm not really familiar with, then across another busy street and back into retail-land. My destination: the Book Exchange, a nice used book store in this little shopping center. The bookstore and a couple other places in the strip are locally owned, which is nice. Instead of Starbucks, the in-store coffee shop is Liquid Planet, a great local company (weird coincidence - one of the few non-MT locations is at PGE Park in Portland). I don't usually buy books - that's what libraries are for! - but I occasionally make exceptions at places like the Book Exchange and Powell's. Today, I was looking for cookbooks, which are not especially great to get from libraries anyway. I had a lot of fun looking through the books they had, though it was hard to choose the ones I wanted. I'm pretty happy with the four I ended up with (including a cute cocktail book!)
It rained, briefly and without determination, as I was biking off. These are my favorite types of summer days, I think - warm, mostly sunny, with the occasional refreshing cloudburst. All the ingredients balance out so perfectly. And there's something inherently cool in the idea of being rained upon while the sun is still shining.
Though I bike past it almost every day, I hadn't been to Rockin' Rudy's yet this summer, and it would have been a true crime if I had been home without ever going. It is possibly the coolest store on earth (I haven't even found anything in Portland that can quite compare) and it was really relaxing just to wander around soaking in the vibes. There was a lot of stuff I considered buying, but fortunately left it all alone for now at least. I'm a fan of the theory that you should avoid making impulse buys: if you still can't stop thinking about whatever it is even after you've left the store, then you can go back in a day or week to buy it. I may end up having to go back for one of the cool "GObama" posters designed by a local artist. My roommate and I are currently trying to come up with ideas to make our dorm awesome next year, and I definitely think that might help. Also, though I already have the CDs, I noted with approval that Rudy's now carries the Blue Scholars and Common Market. They did not the last time I checked, a couple of years ago.
Anyway, after about an hour there spent perusing political bumper stickers, MiSOULla t-shirts, cool jewelery and nice smelling things of various descriptions, I headed over to the library. And got a biography of Aung San Suu Kyi, a Nobel Peace Prize winner who has been a political prisoner in Burma for years. Even though I wasn't going to get anymore books.
I just taught lessons a work this evening, which is much preferable to coming in early and having to guard as well. Teaching is a little scary, especially with all the parents watching, but it can also be really fun when the kids are listening and learning and enjoying themselves. My first class was definitely stressful, but the second was a lot better, and by the time I headed for home I was in a pretty good mood. It rained again for a bit as I was biking home, and then I was treated to a glorious view of sun rays radiating out from the single storm cloud that had covered the sun. The edges of the cloud were glowing and over the top beams of light were spilling. It's easy to see where artists get the idea for halos and deities radiating light; there is something quite so clearly spiritual about that kind of phenomenon.