Strange Love

Everyone...
This is Lola.


I heard you gasp.
Once at her breathtaking beauty, and again as you thought, Wait a minute, that's Lola?!
I encourage you to click on the photos for a larger view - all the better to really witness her glory.
Yes. This, is the original Lola.

The other evening a dear friend rang me up for a sip in her garden. It was lovely and balmy, a perfect glow after a bluebird day. It has become a tradition on such days, that this friend and I meet for a spell in the garden with the cats and the trickle splash music of the pond. It is a seasonal pleasure, happily indulged. I roused Lola from her winter's rest and rode swiftly (if somewhat rustily) over to her house for a sweet evening of catching up in good company.
As I was riding along the backstreets, wind whistling through my helmet, I thought it might be high time y'all met.


A few years back, when I was trying to give a name to these things I make and do; I was enjoying a nice bicycle ride, just me and Lola The Super Nova (She's actually a Schwinn Collegiate) - and it came to me. The first logo was a stylized rendition of the lovely Lola. So, there's the story.



For the story of Lola herself, we must go back another couple of years. Lola was given to me by my brilliant husband one Valentine's Day. I was completely done for and madly in love (with both the bicycle and that man of mine). The antlers on the basket - I found in an abandoned homestead in Wyoming. And for you bird enthusiasts, that is a chickadee perching there on the edge. She has a green bell to match her enthusiastic green paint. She has chrome fenders, a little dented but, still shiny. Oh, how I adore this bicycle.
The naming of this bicycle is a different story, for another time.

There is often a story behind the things we love so. I thought I would start up a semi-regular article on this blog called Strange Love, all about the things I love for some strange reason. A little bit photo essay, a little bit rambling and a whole lot of strange love. I am going to try to coerce you to play along. If you want to join in, let me know...or just post on your blog about something you adore - some trinket from the past, a moment in time, a silly bottle cap - whatever. Tell the story and send me a link. What is your Strange Love?