Wandering Along
The past few weeks have been a collection of exquisite riding weathers — fog, warm days, cool mornings. For many riders it would open the door to long rides and adventure. I wish I could say that’s what I’ve been doing. But I’ve been doing some aimless wandering, on foot and on the Vespa scooter, but it’s not so much about the physical act as it is about engaging the senses. Relishing the perceptions of being out in the world.
I stood for a long time at this railroad crossing gazing at the edge where what’s visible disappeared into the fog. I wasn’t looking for anything; just feeling life flow around and through me.
That’s often the case when I’m riding the scooter.
Garden Morning
Morning always involves dogs and walking. Pacing through pathways as the pups investigate a new day. I say a prayer of gratitude for another day of life as my arthritis laden body unwinds from it’s night of sleep. I love to walk, take in the scent of decaying autumn leaves, feel spider webs drag across my forehead, feel the insistent noses of the dogs wanting me to play.
There’s much aimless wandering in the garden.
Shadows of the Day
I’ve been spending more times with a camera — wandering alone, practicing my eye to observe the world. Lately the desire to make images has been stronger than the desire to ride the Vespa. Not sure what that’s about. Pretty sure I don’t care.
Street Observer
Photographing people on the street is not something I do. Or rather, haven’t done. Suddenly, while engaged in aimless wandering, I’ve found myself photographing people while they’re lost is their own little worlds. It’s an interesting activity. Intrusive in a way I’m not used to. Examining the way bodies and gestures are frozen in time is fascinating.
Morning Fog
There was a stretch of morning fog that I took advantage of. Riding and making photographs, secretly looking for elves and other creatures of a run amok imagination. Fog does that. So does riding alone when the world doesn’t appear as it should. Aimless wandering untethers the child posing as an adult.
Canine Energy
Dogs seem to rule my life at times. The pressure to pick up that slimy, filthy tennis ball is strong. Lily has made it her life’s work to cause some human to hurl that ball (or one of a dozen others around the garden) over and over and on toward infinity.
It’s ok though. I’m just engaged in a little aimless wandering anyway.
Mature Canine Energy
My dog Junior and I have a lot in common. We’re perfectly content to wander and watch; see what the day serves up. As we both mature, we don’t need the intense physical stimulation once sought.
Or so I tell myself.
Faces on a Wall
My aimless wandering with the camera, a Fuji X-Pro1, led me to the Palmer Museum of Art at Penn State. Looking at these paintings I could remember those emotions. Gratefully, I’ve been delivered to a more “chill” existence.
That’s the lie I tell myself.
Mike Houtz, Photographer
My old office is just a short walk from the Palmer Museum. Mike Houtz has assumed the photography and video production responsibilities that I once handled at Penn State. He’s also inherited my office. He’s made a more elegant use of the space than I had.
At the State Theater
I’m not sure if this guy is a musician or a roadie. He and some other people where carrying gear into the State Theater for a performance. I didn’t pay much attention to who or what was happening as I wandered down the sideway saying hello with the camera.
Just Another Vespa Sunrise
It feels good to ride. Even though of late I don’t know where I’m going. Doesn’t matter. Being in the world does. Aimless wandering along roads and paths knowing I’ll end up somewhere.
Somewhere, just around the corner from nowhere. And interesting place to be.
“Above all, do not lose your desire to walk. Everyday, I walk myself into a state of well-being & walk away from every illness. I have walked myself into my best thoughts, and I know of no thought so burdensome that one cannot walk away from it. But by sitting still, & the more one sits still, the closer one comes to feeling ill. Thus if one just keeps on walking, everything will be all right.”
Soren Kierkegaard (1813-55)
Kierkegaard’s thoughts on walking fly in the face of many practices of sitting meditation. I suppose all in an appropriate measure. Some medical research has called sitting in the workplace as the new diabetes. And then amidst a rush to standing desks comes more research that suggests those who stand in the workplace fare worse medically than their sitting colleagues.
Perhaps as Kierkegaard once suggested — he would pursue his own individual truth for which he would be willing to live and die for.
I’m not sure I want to go as far as the dying part, but I think each of us can find what works for us with the knowledge that what works for me may be terrible for another. I suppose that sort of thoughtful work on a life scares those who want a formula with rules and precepts….
Wait a minute. This a riding blog. Why are we discussing Kierkegaard??!! *grin*
Another up lifting start to my morning. Especially needed after reading the depressing story of David “putting down” his Vespa. So, with your enlightenment, I will finish off my last sip of coffee and begin my morning trek, with a full moon setting behind, down to Tampa Bay to await another sunrise. Have a nice day.
It is sad to think of David putting down his scooter. I struggle myself with the notion of when it may be time. Part of me thinks that if I spend $3000 on a repair and can ride a few more years on a machine it’s more economical than buying a new one. What muddies the waters is the current value of the dead machine. How do you wrap your head around pouring three times as much money into something than it’s worth. I’m terrible with financial thinking, but if you leave the resale value out of the picture and just look at ownership on a monthly basis that fixing is cheaper than purchasing new.
Anyway, I’m glad to help you start the day. It was great having David here. I’ll be posting something soon about that adventure.
I am always torn where my equipment is concerned. I keep things too long because I ascribe life to them. I am so in touch with my machines listening to signs of an ailment that they become alive to me. That makes unloading them difficult. After working on them, seeing their mechanical intestines and restoring their health connects me to them. Keep the Vespa. In this 21st century thirty thousand miles is barely broken in. You wouldn’t ditch a car with so few miles, the Vespa should be built to last to over 100,000 miles.
I agree with the theory of longevity. But because labor costs for maintenance are so high, the repair costs on a $3500 machine feel out of whack compared to a $15000 car. When I still had contacts with Piaggio their North American Product Manager for the Vespa line told me that 100K miles would not be a problem if the machine was maintained correctly. Part of the maintenance would include some relatively expensive wear items.
Anyway, I have no plans to abandon my Vespa. If it dies, I’ll cross that bridge then.
“It’s another Vespa sunrise
Starin’ slowly ‘cross the sky……”
Hope the Eagles will forgive me….
We’re thinking alike Frank. That Eagles tune played in my head when I wrote that line. Actually looked up the lyrics to make sure I wasn’t inadvertently borrowing something more. Way back in 1974 I used to listen to the Eagles when I was driving back to work from a weekend visit with my girlfriend. Those tunes are etched in me now.
Hope the Eagles forgive me too!
Ahhh! The melancholy yet so rich scents of Fall. Walking, riding whatever. A wonderful sweet and sour time of the year. My fave I think?
Your words underline my own thoughts about Fall. That melancholy feeling is both exciting somehow but at the same time supremely sad. Perhaps there’s a genetic program stretching back to human beginnings about the recognition of the coming of winter.
Anyway, it probably is my favorite time of year. The season I feel most alive. And the most vulnerable.
Weird…
Where’s the like button?
I like. Where’s the like button?
Hmmmm, never thought about a like button.
I think aimless wandering, whether on two wheels or two feet is some of the best ways to spend time.
Your post makes me think I need to make more time to wander. Thank you for the reminder.
I used to consider the wandering a luxury. Now I consider it a necessary element of a good life. Whether walking or riding, I find the wandering helps me put things in their proper perspective. Helps let go of unnecessary angst.
Good luck on your own wandering!
Those are some nice photos. The Winogrand at the crosswalk. The one of Mike in his office. The first foggy photo. Paul
Thanks Paul. I need to get my printer set up again so I can start sharing some prints at Saint’s Cafe…
The smell of fall is in the air here in Annapolis too. But it lacks a component that remains a great memory of growing up in the 50s and 60s in central upstate New York. The smell of smoke from burning leaves. While I completely understand the modern prohibition to improve air quality, there was something so quintessentially “fall”about the odor. Every now and then when I’m in more rural areas, somebody somewhere still burns leaves on an October afternoon, and the smell instantly takes me back.
I have a similar experience with the fragrance of burning leaves in the fall. It’s definitely not as prevalent as it once was around here where you may see the entire community shrouded in smoke from one pile of burning leaves. I have a love/hate relationship with fires — leaves, trash, wood. It’s one thing in a rural area where the housing density is thin and the smoke can be diluted. But in neighborhoods on quarter-acre lots — it can be a nightmare.
Still, I have good thoughts at times from the aroma of burning leaves and am transported to another time. Funny how fragrances and smells can do that…
Hope things are going well with you and your family.
Looks like you are making good use of your time. Junior & Lily may have other ideas.
junior and Lily’s ideas cause me to get more exercise. That’s a good thing. The three of us are seeking balance…
Shooting pics of people candidly, to me, is tough to get right. I liked the pic of the folks crossing the street…all self-absorbed, making their way across, dodging and weaving while thinking of something else.
I agree — candid street photography is tough. There are technical challenges but to me those pale in the face of the emotional part of confronting strangers with a camera. My new Fuji X-Pro1 is suited to that kind of work — quiet and fast. I’ve been playing but not sure if I’m all that interested in the street. Shooting from the hip with the camera pre-focused. It’s fun to see what transpired. One of these days I’ll find the courage to bring the camera to my eye…
How often I have stood along side a similar fog-bound railway track, knowing there is a train out there, and me with camera in hand waiting, waiting waiting for the damn train. I can hear it on the radio scanner but see it? Never…
And then I read your commentary and suspect your entire being is trying to forget, to change to become less attuned to regular employment and perhaps more attuned to two black dogs and tennis ball.
This is all well and good and in retrospect entirely normal. Now as to that arthritis that
is not a happy projection/happy feeling for the future.
Being similarly incapacitated most of the time, can well understand, perhaps retiring when you did will give you time of your own, to do what you wish to do and maybe allow you freedom from what had been your existence for what, 42 years??
I would be waiting a long time for a train on this stretch of track. It’s still used but I would be surprised if a train passed once a week. There are far busier places for those kind of pictures.
Retirement has been an interesting ride so far. It’s allowed some mental explorations of what I really want to do with my time on the earth, expectations I have, and how real or reasonable any of them are. My health lingers in the background but surfaces occasionally as I wonder when something will change. Pointless ponderings but difficult to set aside at times.
Mostly I keep my eyes open and keep exploring.
Ted Simon , who has the distinction of having circumnavigated the globe twice by motorcycle, once said… “ Go outside, things happen. Stay at home, they don’t. “
I sense the truth in this every time I feel photographically stuck or just plain caught up in a funk. Aimlessly wandering is a tonic for all manner of ailments.
Wander on Steve.
Absolutely true. Just getting out and engaging always works. Waiting for inspiration or motivation — not so well. The wandering is good tonic.
I put in 89 miles on the Piaggio today going nowhere. And I got a lot of pictures. Unfortunately, they’re mostly of houses decorated for Halloween. I try to kid myself into thinking that if I had those country settings you always seem to find, I’d be able to write such great things about my rides. It’s so easy to fool one’s self.
-Joe
I’ll definitely reach out the next time I know I’m heading your way Joe.
There’s a lot of luck and chance in the things I find photographically. That’s usually the easy part. Having something to say, that’s the challenge. This entire summer I’ve felt empty in that regard. Hopefully just a passing thing.
Halloween is just around the corner. I’ve begun to see the decorations here as well.
Hi Steve,
Like you, I retired fairly recently. Although I have a big Guzzi, I often take the Vespa over the winding country roads around here (I am in New Zealand). It encourages more relaxed riding, and I notice more of the details of everyday life around me. I love your blog for the photos and the tranquil feeling of it.
I also love your big black dog shown above – can you tell me what breed it is, please?
Cheers,
Jim.
Thanks for the kind words about the things I post on Scooter in the Sticks. Noticing details in the world and pursuing a more tranquil state of mind is a big part of why I ride. Even though I ridden a lot of motorcycles I’ve not stayed with one long enough to know whether I could find the same.
We have two big black dogs. They are a type of Belgian Shepherd known as a Belgian Sheepdog or the Belgian Groenendael, aka Belgian Sheepdog (longhaired black). The other varieties are:
the Belgian Tervuren (longhaired fawn/mahogany)
the Belgian Malinois (shorthaired fawn/mahogany) (This type is used now by the military)
the Belgian Laekenois (roughhaired fawn)
Lily is the female with upright ears. She’s the niece of Junior. He has floppy ears which would disqualify him in the show ring. And he is over sized as well which could disqualify him.
They are both great dogs!