Ride #1: Saturday, Oct. 19, afternoon
Dua (923 15th St., N.W.)

Every fall I like to take part in Mary G’s Coffeeneuring Challenge where people ride bicycles to coffeeshops or to places that serve coffee or, conversely, take coffee to places that don’t. Whatever, the important thing is bike to coffee.

I am not, however, the only person who does this bike challenge that doesn’t drink or like coffee. So there’s a rule that says we don’t have to.
(For this year’s first Coffeeneuring ride, I’m about to find out exactly how far that rule will stretch. More on that in a minute…)

I’ve been riding bikeshare for most of the past year, rather than my own bike, which does necessitate riding places that are somewhat near the docks. It also means that my rides can, like today’s be hybrids, where I ride some of it and walk (or metro) some of it. Today’s involved riding to the the dock nearest the library; walking to the library, the garden, and Trader Joe’s; riding to the coffeeshop; walking to Marshall’s and TJ Maxx; riding to Safeway; and then riding the rest of the way home.

I discovered the coffeeshop, Dua, earlier this week when I was hunting for a bike to ride home after work. I’d walked past its McPherson Square space half a dozen times since starting my new job, but never noticed it until I needed a bike from the dock in front of it. And then I knew I’d be back to Coffeeneur.

The guy at the counter was very nice and when I said I was looking for something coffee-free, he asked if I’d be in the mood for something cold. How about our cookies and cream milk shake? he asked. Sure thing! (It was ice cream, but drinkable ice cream … That totally counts, right?!)

I added a chocolate croissant to my order and headed (with my two bags full of library books and groceries) to the seating in the back. They have a handful of seats at the front window, a long subway-style, outward-facing row of seats, and then a back section with five tables, one of which is meant to be communal seating.

Both the milkshake and the croissant were very tasty.

I’ll definitely be back, but I suspect that I’m missing out on the best the shop has to offer. This is the first international outpost of a Jakarta coffeehouse, and they import their beans from Indonesia, where they know all their coffee growers. They have two Indonesian coffee specialties — one made with condensed milk and the other with coconut milk — and offer an Indonesian sweet — banana and chocolate wrapped in a spring roll wrapper. I have recommended to Rudi that he stop by, being a fan of both coffee and bananas, and I suspect he’ll have a new favorite shop once he does.

Total mileage: 3.7 miles

It’s been a non-stop sprint for me since last week, so this weekend I’m looking forward to a lot of chill. We started by meeting up with friends for drinks at our local watering hole and then relaxing by watching a couple tv shows we enjoy.

I’m hoping the weekend includes:

• Knitting three rows. Okay, technically two and a bind-off row.
• A trip to the library.
• Harvesting the last (probably) of the tomatoes in the garden.
• Time outside tomorrow in the sun.
• Shopping at the farmers market. (Brussels sprouts season has arrived.)
• Baking.
• Refilling the tea tins.
• Doing laundry.
• Enjoying a pot of tea and a good book while it rains on Sunday.
• Sleeping in.

How about you? What are you planning for this weekend?

Three beautiful things from my past week:

1. Today was cool and fall-like and I got to wear my new jewel-toned autumnal clothes.

2. Yesterday, it rained. It had been so long since we’d had precipitation that I could even forgive it cancelling my volleyball game.

3. Rudi and I were both tired on our drive back from Connecticut, and the radio was not being cooperative by playing something that didn’t annoy me. Eventually, I asked if the Yankees game was on, and Rudi was able to pull that up. There was a lot of background noise and the announcers and players were mostly new to me, but there is a cadence to baseball broadcasting that is common and familiar and comforting. (Plus, the Yankees have a woman doing color commentary for them, so Rudi and I got to spend some time learning about her and other female sports broadcasting trailblazers.)

How about you? What’ s been beautiful in your world lately?

Have I mentioned that my new job is kicking my ass?

It is virtually guaranteed that at some point each evening I will require a nap.

I spend a large part of every workday reading and learning, which means that when I get home, my brain is fried. This is too bad, because I both really am enjoying the nonfiction book I’m reading and need to get it back to the library before Sunday.

And even though I ought to be able to multitask while I watch tv, I instead tend to stare blankly at a program, hands idle.

I haven’t finished the final couple rows of my shawl, which is all it’s needed for weeks. I haven’t touched my zigzag shawl for months. And while the Halloween yarn I bought to turn into Halloween socks is, at least, on the needles, it seems unlikely to be wearable in the next two weeks unless I’m hoping to turn it into a Halloween cuff bracelet.

But there’s one more baseball series to watch, starting next week, so I suppose anything is possible.

In a shock to me, the Washington Nationals have eliminated the Saint Louis Cardinals in four straight games.

The Nationals have won the National League pennant.

The Nationals are heading to the World Series!

Let’s go, Nats!!!

This week’s Top Ten Tuesday from That Artsy Reader Girl invites us to consider Top Ten Extraordinary Book Titles.

Here are 10 titles that piqued my interest:

1. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, by Newt Scamander (J.K. Rowling)
2. Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee, by Jeff Zentner
3. Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow, by Jessica Townsend
4. Grief Is the Thing with Feathers, by Max Porter
5. The Tea Dragon Society, by Katie O’Neil
6. Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World, by Ashley Herring Blake
7. Killers of the Flower Moon, by David Grann
8. Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor
9. A Wrinkle in Time, by Madeleine L’Engle
10. The Other F-Word, Natasha Friend

How about you? Are there books you’ve picked up simply based on their title?