I knew today was going to be a good day when I saw the woman on the bike. I was out walking the dog and I heard a “Creak, creak, creak,” behind me. I turned to look and it was a woman on a creaky old Schwinn Cruiser. The kind that requires you to pedal backwards to brake.

She was wearing: bowling shoes, jeans rolled up like pedal pushers and… a fur cape. Capelet? Anyway, brown fur. Not sure what animal it came from but it didn’t look all that old. The fur was sort of glinting in the rising sun. She also had tattoos all over her hands and her hair gathered into a very tight topknot. The kind of tightness that could give one a headache.

She looked tired. But she also looked as if it were the most normal thing in the world to be out biking at 7:30 in the morning with a fur cape on. I suppose it’s a great wind breaker.

She rattled on by us and then, several blocks later, we crossed paths with her again. Her mouth was set in a grim line and I wondered if she was on her way to work and if they would make her take the fur off. I wonder if she then had to bike home when it was a bit warmer with the fur on and if it made her too hot.

There seems to be a very limited time for bike riding with a fur on before it becomes completely impractical.