Since early antiquity, Egyptians have celebrated the flooding of the Nile. Today the annual flooding is commemorated by a two-week holiday called Wafaa El-Nil ("Fidelity of the Nile"), beginning on August 15. It is also celebrated in the Coptic Church by ceremonially throwing a martyr's relic into the river, giving the Nile the name Esba` al-shahīd ("The Martyr's Finger"). The flooding of the Nile and its silt deposition was a natural cycle first attested in Ancient Egypt. It was of singular importance in the history and culture of Egypt. The river's predictability and annual deposits in the Nile Valley and Delta made for extraordinarily rich soil, enabling the Egyptians to build an empire on its enormous agricultural wealth. In the 19th century, Egypt began constructing infrastructure to control the flooding, and such projects continued into the 20th. The annual flooding cycle in Egypt came to an end in 1970 with the completion of the Aswan High Dam. Credit: https://w.wiki/F32B I won't be able to join the club ride tomorrow, because I'll be attending a Santa Cruz Shakespeare educational event. So today, I rode up two familiar hills I haven't ridden for years. From my campsite at New Brighton State Beach, I rode up Porter Gulch Road and Glen Haven Road. And I got back to New Brighton in time to shower and leave the campsite by the noon deadline. The ride felt good. Cloudy and cool at the start, which felt nice, and I quickly removed my windbreaker. The sun started to come out on the way up Glen Haven, so I stopped to put on sunblock. I've been driving around Capitola enough that I was able to find my way down to Park Avenue at the shoreline and back to New Brighton without a prepared route. I may be starting to be a native again.