is that person a genius?

One of the first changes that happened to my internal monologue after moving here is how I think about strangers. Walking, biking or eating around Cambridge one suspects the person next to them is a genius. The backstories you imagine for strangers from superficial clues are constructed on the assumption that the person beside you is likely among the world's best and brightest. This makes for fun imaginings and is kindled by confirmations here and there - overhearing a conversation in a cafe of how to structure a new multi-million dollar climate change institute, the man selling you your used bike being a Cambridge graduate who left the corporate world for a simpler life, a friendly gentleman with an incredible beard making a casual joke about the Victorian mindset that you don't understand at all. These were all nice confirmations that I am surrounded by geniuses, but my favorite happened while biking about a month ago.

Let me preface the image by saying that I have been working on my hands-free biking skills. Growing up on hilly, curvy gravel roads and never having an abundance of coordination, biking with no hands was not a skill I ever possessed. Couple that with not riding a bike for about a decade (and no I can't believe I'm old enough to make decade statements like that), learning to ride with no hands was an ambitious and risky undertaking. Since you are shirley wondering, I am now quite accomplished at riding with no hands when no one is watching. I've even been able to make a 90 degree turn once or twice. Back to the point, as I was biking to class I noticed someone biking the other way with no hands. As he came closer, I saw that although he wasn't using his hands to steer, his hands were occupied... by a rubik's cube.

From Untitled Album