On the way home yesterday I stopped at the military park near my home. It seemed a fitting time to pause and think about the election underway. At this place I am reminded of one of the paths that those we elect can take us. It’s easy to feel the process and decisions are beyond my influence being in this place helps me glimpse, if only for a moment, that I am part of the whole. Every decision I make has a subtle effect on the outcome of the decision making process of those men and women elected and in the fate of those people affected by those decisions. Like the flap of the butterfly wings that give birth to a hurricane.
It’s dark, raining and 46° F this morning. The Vespa is waiting patiently for me to gather myself together for the ride into work.
Reminds me of a Ray Bradbury story I read, where a man goes back in time to a primitive age and accidentally kills a butterfly while he is there. When he comes back to present, he finds that his whole world is changed.
John
Crawfordville, FL
You seem to have been in an intensively contemplative mood lately. Anything in particular triggering it? I’m finding as I deal with heavier freeway traffic that the ability to think more deeply while riding has suffered greatly. Maybe I need to find a “thinking” spot to pull over in a sit once in a while.
Take care,
Dan
scooterguru: I think those small connections and results are everywhere around us but they’re easy to overlook. I see it at work how a single sentence in an email message can trigger a long series of events that otherwise would not have happened.
irondad: When the days get shorter and I find myself out in the world under grey fall skies, short days, and darkness I fall into a more reflective mood. I just need a few hours in the sun!
I’ve also been writing a story that deals with a lot of sad things and I’m sure that has an effect. Writing always has more outward influence on me than photography does. Maybe that’s why I have avoided writing….
Be careful in that traffic. Your ride is so long and so intense that you are really exposed to circumstance for an extended period.
steve
Hi Steve hi GC hi HRW.
Regarding your Oct 25 Vespa/Supermoto comments: I looked impaired standing there because I’m holding up the Suzuki. Note – no kickstand in place. If I move…it fall down go boom. My impression jumping back and forth is like Steve’s. The ride is much cushier on the LX150 than on the DRZ400SM. The seat is wide and soft. The scooter is MUCH quieter too. The Suzuki has a noisy titanium Akrapovic hipo exhaust system and it is a 400cc one cylinder. The exhaust note is POP POP POP sounding like a loud helicopter. The LX150 turns on a dime and is light as a feather so you can thread it through any tight spots and drag is sideways between the lawnmower and the Weber. The supermotard is tall very tall with a competition dirt bike suspension. It handles like a monkey swinging in a tree though probably the best handling motorcycle I’ve ever been one. It is light, powerful and agile. The LX150 is the most fun you can have for under $5000. The Suzuki is a lot of fun too but in different ways. I drive it over trees and curbs and through the path in the woods and 200 miles to my girls house (but my butt is killing me). Dial in a fist full, Paul