I made this picture on the way home from work last night. A short detour from the predictable route. Small adventures where I find them. Riding to work (and home) is what I make of it.
A still unmowed pasture offered itself up for a new shortcut that I just couldn’t resist. On a motorcycle like the BMW F650 GS taking this road would be uneventful. On the small-wheeled Vespa the unseen hazards lurking below the canopy of grass, clover, groundhog holes and dandelions add an element of potential surprise. It makes me ride with a different quality of attention.
The sky lured me in as well. I saw clouds growing dark from the highway and began searching for a place open enough to photograph them well. Thoughts of my Vespa bucket list photos moved through my head as I considered, “Vespa with funnel cloud”. Not on this ride though.
It was a good day at work with much accomplished. Riding from the parking lot towards home I sensed the need for an attitude adjustment which often results from diverging from the predictable path. And I think I achieved what poet Robert Frost said so well in the last stanza of The Road Not Taken.
| I shall be telling this with a sigh | |
| Somewhere ages and ages hence: | |
| Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— | |
| I took the one less traveled by, | |
| And that has made all the difference. |
With a sigh I am off to a new day of work. Sadly not on two wheels.
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I assume that some of your commute is at least out of town. My commute is all urban and taking another route is usually not that interesting. I do however crave that extra errand that sometimes happens.
I got a chuckle out of your bucket list, have thought of “SYM near thunderstorm”. But I hate lightning.
Nice post Steve.
Very nice image, Steve. Off roading in an uncharted area with a Vespa is something I’ve not considered! Well done.
cpa3485: My direct commute is suburban and town. My variations get me out of town a bit. And the routes to errands can wander a bit as well.
I only recently began thinking of pictures in terms of a bucket list. One involves a Jack Riepe T-shirt…
Mike: The Vespa isn’t the ideal off-road machine but it has continued to impress me with it’s range. I have ridden across some unconventional scooter landscapes.
I missed this post and I found it incredible that just last January I posted something under the title The road not taken!
Is this empathy? 🙂
And I don’t have to tell you that I completely agree.
Good Steve, an ocean and thousands of miles divide us but sometimes it feels just like we were riding together, in cold weather, towards a diner to have a good strong cup of coffee and show each other some prints.
Bonne route, fellow rider. 🙂
Hi,
I am making a new website.
Is it possible for me to use one of your pictures on my site?
I would also create a link to your site .
That would be really awesome…
drupal_sensei: Depends on the picture and what your site is about. What’s the URL and what picture do you want to use and how will you use it?