Hello from the St. Petersbureau!

The marina at St. Petersburg. Take this morning just before 9:00 a.m..

Welcome to the start of another working week! As I do from time to time, I volunteered to give Anitra a lift to her work in St. Petersburg, a drive that can take up to an hour or so, depending on traffic. That way, we both win: she gets a break from commuting for a day, and for me, getting out of the home office is a nice change of scenery.

I also made breakfast for the both of us while she showered this morning — scrambled eggs with spinach and a little onion — which should net me at least 100 Husband Points. I try to keep my score high. Later tonight, we’re catching up with friends on Pass-a-Grille Beach, a stone’s throw away from where we got married just over six months ago.

Chauffeuring Anitra to work has an added benefit: it’s also the perfect excuse to hook the bike on the rack and take some time to enjoy zipping around St. Petersburg’s beautiful, uncrowded, bike-friendly streets.

My car and bike rack, taken in Ottawa circa September 2011. It’s the only photo I have with a bike on the rack. I left the bike pictured above in Toronto for my oldest nephew; I now ride around on Anitra’s old bike.

I love biking around downtown St. Pete in the morning, but I end up asking the same question every time: Where is everybody?

All these photos, save the one of my car with the red bike on the rack, were taken this morning in downtown St. Pete between 8:45 and 9:00 a.m. today. You’d think the place existed in some sort of Jimmy Buffett drunken slacker time warp (which isn’t necessarily a bad thing). This is Beach Avenue, the home of a lot of shops and sidewalk cafes and bistros:

Here’s 1st Street North. At this point, I’m still the only vehicle on the road:

It’s all quiet if you look north from the corner of 1st Street North and 2nd Avenue North…

…but looking west, I see what passes for morning traffic here.

Here’s an amusing sticker I found on a parked car this morning. This is my kind of emergency planning:

And finally, my current setup at the “St. Petersbureau”:

I hope your day’s going well!