Fog, spring, and warming air. The perfect invitation on a Saturday morning to take the Vespa out for a ride. A full weekend schedule would attempt to strangle the opportunity but I found myself moving lazily through the mist, soaking in the spring and letting the noise in my head slip away into the dream called riding.
By the time I stop and consider possible pictures my breathing is slow, steady, and time has, for a moment, stopped. Everything I read about contemplation and meditation sounds like riding to me. At least the sort of slow, deliberate motion I engage. Road racers and aficionados of speed can’t possibly harvest the same experience can they?
All the mountain streams are running, clear but not swollen with spring melt. The fragrance of decay and change are in the moist air. Sunshine will warm the dead leaves until they give up the toasted aroma the says “spring in the forest”.
As the road unrolls ahead I can let go of expectation, concern, and responsibility until I almost become one with the scooter. It’s a feeling, a moment that I convinced will feed my soul until I can’t ride any longer. There was a time I wanted to understand it all, capture it, but now I’m content to accept it without question.
Perhaps the biggest challenge, and gift, I’ve gained through riding is an ability to let go and move on without complaint. As the clock beat out it’s warnings this morning the Vespa and I arrived at the moment when the ride was to be abandoned. And that’s ok. Whether minutes, hours, or days, I’ll take what’s offered a savor the experience. No regrets or battles with what could or should be, just a ride through the world.
Your riding pics in misty conditions always convey a magical atmosphere Sir….
Photo #2 is like the silver of the Scoot … came from the fog. As always, I enjoyed your perspective!
By golly, Steve, I’m really glad to see you’re back…your photos and words do something really magical…almost as if they can convey what many of us out here in “quiet land” feel, if not say.
And I hope the repairs from the winter riding go well and not as extensive as thought.
Karl Utrecht
Las Cruces, NM
I wish I would be able to wake up early to ride in a fog but I’m a week man who loves my sleep in the morning… love your fog photos!
Steve, the latest photos of the scooter in the mist are especially lovely–and even more impressive for their excellent technical quality. Very impressive indeed.
You invited feedback on the latest version of your “watermarks.” I’d say they’re a big improvement over the previous versions. They seem significantly less distracting. Each is a smaller blemish on the photo.
I do feel that they’re still a blemish, though, still an annoying distraction. The composition of your photos is usually excellent. There’s no junky waste space in the lower right that can be cluttered up without doing harm to the photo. The play of light in the photos is usually composed so well that an artificial bright spot tacked on sticks out. (The spot is much less bright in the newest watermark, which is an improvement.)
I’m not a serious, publishing photograper, so there may be benefits of a watermark that I’m failing to see. (The recent marks bear neither your name nor a copyright symbol.) So I hope you’ll forgive any obtuseness I’m showing. Still, I feel that the ideal would be no marks at all.
I don’t mean to harrangue you. I think your photos and prose and blog are excellent, and I thank you for them. And I remain a big fan.
Best,
Ken
Oh man, where’re you from? Mid April and no green leafs?! Looks very cold 😉
Charlie6: One can never go wrong with fog and a camera…
V Star Lady: Just wouldn’t be the same with a red or black Vespa!
karlu: The repairs won’t be difficult, just time consuming and spread out over some days because of my hectic work schedule right now. But I guess I’ll be riding again before I know it…
Sergei: Your photos are great without fog! I wish I could sleep in more but have lost the skill. Seem to always wake up early…
Kenneth Dowst: Thanks for the kind words about the photos and your critique of the watermarks. I’ve reduced them again but soon they won’t be there.
I started watermarking them not so much for copyright but because they show up in a lot of places and aren’t credited or anything. I saw what people were doing on the Adventure Rider Forum so I thought I would give it a go.
So far it’s too early to tell if much good or bad has come of it…
Germanicus84: I am in central Pennsylvania and the nights still are chilly, sometimes dipping to the 30s (F). No more snow though. Leaves starting to emerge, forsythia and daffodils blooming.
Really appreciated to see you again. Your vespa, natural scan and your picture everything are seem cool and awesome. Thank you for your sharing and I wait for your next one.