The Need for Light

So I had to stay at the lab really late today and was debating whether to ride Stella home or not.  Usually it wouldn't even be an issue because Stella and I are quite the stellar team (except this morning she decided to de-gear her chain and I barely averted disaster...we'll have to work on that one).  The only reason I hesitated was because it was quite dark outside and I haven't made time to put the silly little light-mounting thinga-ma-jig onto Stella's handlebars so that I can use my bike light.  Oh, and the fact that I was wearing super-dark burglaresque clothing didn't help the whole cars-will-probably-have-a-hard-time-seeing-you thing.  But, despite the lack-of-light I decided to go for it, because it was so nice outside and I didn't want to waste the opportunity to have a star-studded ride through the streets o' Brookline with my pal Stella.

Well, despite the nice weather I discovered that light really is a good thing, and not just to help cars see me.  You see...it really is safer to navigate the rather complicated topography of the streets if you can see them.  I came uncomfortably close to being swallowed by several potholes, and nearly flew over the handlebars a few times when accidently running into manhole covers.  (I really don't understand how they can make them poke up so unnaturally out of the road like that.  It is quite unbelievable).  All I have to say is thank goodness for my crazy bike-riding skills!  Otherwise I may not have made it home and would probably have ended up back at the hospital where I started.

Moral of the story: I should probably move "giving Stella a headlight" from my "Things to do after the MCAT" to my "Things to do before the MCAT" list.