Record fuel prices and evidence of an expanding waistline brought my old Schwinn Mirada bicycle into the light. When concerns related to riding a Vespa and its affect on masculine appearances are directed toward me they fall on the deaf ears of a man who has ridden a pink bike since the 1970’s. For the two months that Scooter in the Sticks has been dormant I’ve continued to ride and think about things that come up on the road. Not always the typical topics. Of late I have been thinking more and more about ways to simplify my life. Reduce the noise and confusion attendant with too much stuff and too much to do with no hope of creating more time in a day.
The Vespa is a model of simplicity as a transportation vehicle. It’s reliable, well made, stingy with fuel, and simple to operate. Being plain fun to ride is gravy. Economics aside it epitomizes simple transport and is surpassed in my mind only by walking or a bicycle. As it turns out I’m not ready to sign on to the pink bike as my primary mode of transport.
Riding the Vespa focuses my attention on what’s happening — what’s in front of me and around me. It strips away all or most of the noise in my head as my brain focuses on what I need to do to ride safely. That kind of clarity is a gift. On the way home from the video store on Friday night I pulled off the road to look at the clouds after the sun had set. In that moment everything was simple and quiet. Those kind of Vespa moments make it easy to differentiate what is important and what is noise.
I’ve been reading about the 100 Things Challenge. A challenge to reduce the number of personal possessions to 100. The thought is daunting. The amount of stuff I have accumulated is depressing. Thinking about all the things piled in the garage, basement, and attic felt like a huge millstone around my neck. It’s always there to be dealt with, organized, cared for, and managed. And most of it is never used. Some has never been used. Items or consumption that at one point in time I thought I could not live without. I think about this when I ride. On the road life is simple. I just want to extend that throughout my life.
The Reappearance of Posts
For the past two months I have read a lot of comments and references to the termination of Scooter in the Sticks. It was never my intent to terminate, merely to retreat for a while to focus on other things. And as things developed I would post again. I’m not sure how often but I prefer to think of Scooter in the Sticks as more indolent.
Anyways, it’s been a nice vacation.
100 things? Pah! This guy is trying to sell everything
Ebay item 250255442325
No idea if it is legit or not, but it is fun to watch.
I’m glad to see you here and still posting on this indolent ol’ site. Your words always give me pause. Cause me to question things.
Take whatever time you need. After all, this is something we do for fun and our own reasons.
You do whatcha gotta do. We’ll still be here 😉
Harv
Harv
Wow! Great to see a new post from you. You’re a great writer and photographer. I’ve been missing those great shots of your ride.
Steve your posts always inspire me and cause me to think deep within myself. Your photography continues to amaze me. I bet a pink bike always gets noticed. Safety first you know.
Ronman
colin: That’s extreme selling a whole life! I’ll keep an eye on that sale.
Harv: Seems like something always comes up that I want to send out through the blog. Time will tell what all that might be.
david: Thanks for the kind words. I have some plans for new photos.
ronman: yeah, that pink bike has elicited some fine comments over the years. Especially when I would wear the kitty kat sweatshirt…
well, welcome back! I had kept your blog on my blog roll, coming back from time to time to read old posts and stuff…
but I am very happy to see that the blog is back to life.
I’m really glad you’re back even if you don’t post regularly. Yours was the first scooter blog I found when I started looking around for some and its excellence is, I think, an inspiration for many of us who ride but don’t have the eloquence to put some of what we think while we’re on our bikes into worthwhile words.
-Joe
Oh, I thought you said “insolent”! So you’re not rude and inconsiderate, after all. Actually, I don’t know if I’d be comfortable telling everyone I was “slow to develop”, either! If I remember correctly, the root of that word comes from being insensitive to pain. If so, then we’re both indolent because Katie says I have a really high pain threshold!
God please; Theoretical Agriculture doesn’t need any promotion at all, and I did try to read it. At the risk of sounding indolent the Vespa blog needs to be brought back to life. Please.
What a great find your blog is. My wife’s mantra for years has been “simplify”. Once I learned to loosen my grip on things I realized how liberating it could be. Thanks for swinging by my blog.
Glad to see a new post from you.
demonio: I checked you blog out just now. That was a good hoolahoop video!
joe: Thanks for the kind words. Your blog is pretty cool and the Wyoming Valley is just a beautiful place to ride.
irondad: Indolent has two meanings — one related to pain and one laziness. I’m not insensitive to pain though.
Rude? Me? Only on rare ocassions. Like the last time I went to Best Buy.
conchscooter: What do you mean Theoretical Agriculture needs no promotion…? It’s not that bad is it?? It’s just warming up. I’m looking for the zone…
r.g.: Why is simplicity so complicated….
road captain: I’ll post when something comes up. Who knows how often that will be. Summer is my slow riding time…
W-O-W!
Steve is back!
It took me a while to realize it, as I’m not used to feeds and so I have to *remember* and manually check many things.
I think that all those things you can remember are those worth of.
Scooter in the Sticks was surely worth of it, and today, waiting to leave for my twice-a-month 150 km trip to Versilia, my heart is warmed up at teh thought that SITS is up and alive again!
I even mentioned you in my latest post… it must be an inconscious connection.
indolent is a word I share, as my posts are not so frequent as yours were in the past and have never been, so I perfectly understand the rhythm. I’m a musician after all.
welcome back, dear friend, the blogosphere needs we all.
🙂