Winter feels gray and gritty. It shows on the soul and on the Vespa as the grime collects. Piles of crushed limestone dot the landscape where road crews place material to add friction to the roads when it snows. This morning on the way to work in the dim light I wondered where all the color went.
One stop to buy something to eat at lunchtime and make a picture of the local fuel depot. I remember when I worked at an Arco station in high school with one gas island and two pumps. We handed out Green Stamps, washed windshields and checked oil. Can’t quite understand how that was possible when I look at these modern installations and the number of vehicles guzzling gas.
On cold days, even ones with no snow and no threat of snow the parking lot doesn’t have many two-wheeled commuters. Just the intrepid Vespa riders braving the winter elements — on this day a balmy 35F. Despite the gloom one thing shines through — the grin engendered by the trip, the travel, the road.
Damn, I love it so.
Sometimes you just have to bring your own sunshine…
Fuzzy: I do! I have to admit an attraction to the gray days…
Steve, as you probably suspect, I tend to enjoy the ride more when the weather is “adverse”. Shooting in gray light is tough though, you do such a good job of it.
dom
Redleg’s Rides
Colorado Motorcycle Travel Examiner
Steve:
You are the master, the light doesn’t matter, grey, bright, overcast, cloudy, whatever, your images just POP.
The cold doesn’t bother me as much as frost or ice. I can’t commute to work until the frost burns off. There is no heat at 7am when I leave for work.
bob
Riding the Wet Coast
I like that last photo of the red scooter against the silver railing and the silver scooter against the red brick. Would make a nice poster.
Charlie6 (Dom): Adverse riding conditions have an attraction to me as well. The grayness just adds to the adversity.
I think shooting in gray light is much easier to deal with than a sunny day. Maybe it’s just a bias…
bobskoot: Thanks for the kind words about the pictures. I wish I could feel about them as you do. Often I just think I missed what I was after. Maybe that’s why I keep trying.
We get a lot of frost here but never seems to affect the road surfaces. I have seen freezing fog a couple times though. That was bad.
Troubadour: You would have liked the picture more had I taken it in the afternoon. A Triumph showed up after lunch. I didn’t take another picture though since the Triumphs just aren’t so pretty….. *grin*