The comments generated by these posts never appeal to me, because it either feels like I’m listening to advice from an alcoholic cousin who throws caution to the wind, or I’m hearing from the most anxious moms on the planet.

Pros and Cons

For the first year or so that Thaddeus and I were bicycling, we didn’t wear a helmet.

Most of the research on wearing a helmet seems to indicate that there is no discernible benefit to wearing one, although there is a lot of personal experiences indicating folks were glad they were wearing one.

Pros
– Protection against head injuries
– Protects agains facial injuries
– Protects expensive eyewear
– Lightweight and easy-fitting
– Helps ease worries for people who worry like my mom

Cons
– Seems to be a little more sweaty and itchy than a cap
– Expensive
– Looks silly when I wear it
– Potentially offers little or no protection
– Baseball cap offers more sun glare protection
– Gives wearer a false sense of security

Almost all of our bicycling is done on the canal towpath with very little chance of being hit by a car or getting run off the road.  However, within the last few months, they’ve closed down a section of the towpath, requiring us to bicycle on about a mile of road that has a really bad shoulder.

Based on the new route, I opted to start wearing a helmet…for a different reason, Thaddeus has decided to wear one too.

Current Knitting

Two KAL’s going on right now.  The Finish The Dance Cowl to benefit the LGBTQ homeless shelter, Lambert House:

And the North East Men’s Fall Knitting Retreat Slipper Sock KAL:

Splitting my time between two projects has made for somewhat slower progress, but I’m loving both projects, so I’m enjoying the extended knitting time.

Readers’ Comments/Questions

In comments, IndigoB writes, “The mail carriers I know are far from lazy even if they sometimes deliver less than stellar service. I’m sorry your experience has been different.”

I agree completely with this assessment…our regular mail carrier is really very good and the one that typically fills in for the regular guy is very good as well.  This latest one seems to go to great lengths to not go to our doorway if the packages can be jammed in the mailbox.  Lazy isn’t really accurate, because it’s hard work even with shortcuts.