June the first.

I like to find surprises when I go on bike rides. It keeps me focused on paying attention to what I'm looking at and it helps me see what's different in the day-to-day. I don't always find something, and I like to make the attempt whenever I can.

One of today's surprises was a woman walking her parrot - though it's not quite so much of a surprise as it used to be since I've seen them before. Same woman, same parrot, same part of the park, same time of day. I suppose the parrot likes the routine.

The other, much more exciting one was watching some tightrope walking lessons. Two trees at the edge of a long, flat lawn, maybe fifteen to twenty feet apart, with the tightrope maybe twelve to eighteen inches off the ground. Enough height for the student to get some air under his bare feet, close enough to the dirt to not hurt too bad when he fell. Which he did, a couple of times. His teacher was standing too far away for me to hear her well, and I couldn't make out most of what he said, either. Just what he was doing: trying to learn how to balance on a tightrope. Sticking his leg out, balancing like a hood ornament, seeing his leg muscles tense up under his skin and feeling sympathy all through my abs.

He usually jumped off when he lost his balance, landing on his feet. He managed a few steps by walking sideways before jumping off, and both he and his teacher liked that I clapped. He did fall off, losing his balance and landing on his back and getting up to try again.

I don't know if I'll see them again tomorrow. I'll keep an eye out for them.