“Mom,” he said, ” I like how you ride your bike. You don’t ride fast–you’re all relaxed…you kinda, well, it’s like….”

“Do I ride like I live in Paris?” I ask.

“Yeah! You ride your bike like you live in Paris!”

Another dream fulfilled: I am Amelie (the lead character in my favorite French film).

I may be a garden-variety Norwegian living in a small Minnesota town, but every bike ride offers me transport to another continent. Now a soundtrack plays in my head as I ride along–heavy on the harpsichord–and I have a yearning to buy fresh vegetables and baguettes from a street vendor.

These last weeks have been especially lovely riding days. So many gorgeous sites–I very deeply enjoy riding to work and around town. It is an important time for me to collect my thoughts, breathe deeply and prepare for a day of making. Visual artists/designers need to consume a lot every day to keep up with the output rate expected of us, but just like students of yoga and competitors on the Tour de France, we also need to remember to breathe. Riding gives me that.

I guess it might look like a relaxed ride to a passerby, but it is really so much more than that. I ride like I live in Paris, you see. So don’t be surprised if the next time you see me riding I greet you with a wave and, “Bonjour, ami!”

It’s not just me, it’s Amelie.

“Merci, cher fils.”