Keep on Looking
It’s almost midnight as I begin to write. Snow falling. The deck is covered but the driveway and roads are merely wet. If it weren’t for a nagging respiratory infection and cough I might entertain a midnight ride. But I’m tired and my stomach is signaling its displeasure with the antibiotics I’ve been taking. So the Vespa scooter sits in the darkened garage. For days now. I can’t ride.
I get stir crazy. Especially when I’m sick. And just have to get out of the house to see something. Anything. With car keys and camera in tow I left the house this morning to meet a friend and wander a bit.
No Vespa, Just a Honda Fit
Another silver vehicle. It doesn’t lend the same energy to a photograph as the Vespa. But it gets mere where I want to go. And a perfect match for the scooter. Small, simple, utilitarian. The weather was brisk and slightly damp. Slowly I’m adjusting to the weather. Just not the lack of light.
Chocolate Fix
Chocolate brownies now at Saint’s Cafe. Just like the Vespa and Honda Fit — well almost. They’re simple and utilitarian. But they’re not small. I couldn’t finish this one. A sure sign of old age when I can’t or won’t down a brownie.
Geez.
Observing
When I find myself on foot with a camera I look at things. Like the lichen on a tree. Or the way light shines through the trees. I like to tell myself that I’m a traveler in life. Moving through the world as a quiet observer. Served well as a photographer. And as a rider.
On the Road
Driving and making photographs has none of the excitement or satisfaction that the Vespa offers. In cold weather the car can be seductive with it’s ability to blast heat and recline seats. And if I couldn’t ride, it was still nice to get out on the road and see if anything has changed.
It didn’t.
Small Big Sky
It’s not Montana, but it has a central Pennsylvania big sky feeling. A front moving across the valley. The light fading at 4pm in the afternoon and we’re still a month away from the winter solstice. Everything feels like winter.
Happy Valley
This is Happy Valley. Home of Penn State and the Nittany Lions. And a host of other sights, sounds, people, businesses and communities. Mount Nittany rises in the distance, dwarfed by the heavy skies overhead.
Some days beckon to travel and keep moving down the road. This day felt as if it were whispering, “Home, home, home…”
CATA Christmas
Christmas decorations go up earlier every year. It’s not even Thanksgiving yet and the town is illuminated. Triggered some Christmas shopping. Kim, if you read this, I got one of your presents. If you’re looking for something for me, I want the same thing as previous years.
The clock struck twelve a few minutes ago. The house is dark save for the glow of the computer screen. A swig of cough syrup with codeine, a glass of water and a quick check on the dogs and I can drift off to sleep. I saw some things today. And it didn’t matter that it wasn’t on two wheels.
I’m flexible. Even if I can’t ride.
Wait,… let me get my coffee…………
OK, now I’m ready to read.
Coffee. Early morning lubricant.
Thanks Doug. On the mend.
Still great photographs. Hope you are feeling better soon.
Doug
Enjoy reading and viewing your thoughts.
Perhaps you’ve read or heard of Marcel Minnaert’s book, Light and Color in the Outdoors. I think you might find it interesting.
https://www.amazon.com/Light-Color-Outdoors-Marcel-Minnaert/dp/0387979352
I’ll check that book out. Thanks for the head’s up.
Feel better quick. I don’t ride when I’m sick, but I think about it, a lot.
Same here. But then, I’m always thinking about riding…
Yeah, riding, or thoughts of riding, are always present.
We too have snow on the ground. Too damn early for this neck of the woods.
And your continuing illness is not good either.
Yes a small Honda Fit is good for this time of the year. Perhaps cover the Vespa for now with a sheet; methinks you and most of us are in for a long cold (as opposed to snow-filled) winter.
And that snow on the ground this early (for this clime) is just a wee bit too telling.
I’d suggest a preventative flue shot however in your case it would make things much worse .
And yes too Christmas decorations are in place all too early.
And it is also U.S. Thanksgiving this coming Thursday November 23/17.
We in Canada celebrated same during a much happier weather period, the second Monday in October…
No flu shot yet this year precisely for the reason you point out. Once I’m better I’ll get the shot.
The Vespa is sitting in the garage waiting for me to feel up to a ride. Gets closer every day. It’s still cold outside but not oppressive. Cars are covered in frost. But the sun is shining.
Thanksgiving, or turkey day as some refer to it, is only a few days away. Lots of good memories surround that holiday.
Steve, I greatly admire your desire and ability to get out all the same without the Vespa. I’ve tried doing that when the weather conditions aren’t right for a ride, especially since my own stint in the hospital with cardiac issues, but over time as a winter drags on I can barely get myself up out of the recliner, never mind on the road.
I used to love phenergan with codeine as a kid, but nowadays codeine for leg pain gives me sleep patterns and dreams like ol’ Tim Leary might’ve had. Just another lost joy of old age.
I used to love cold weather and the challenge it presents. Probably what attracted me to riding the scooter through the winter. But age and health have mitigated that desire and I’m left uncertain what my winter riding will comprise moving forward. The reclining chair can be as seductive as the scooter. Ugh.
Thankfully (I think) I’ve had no Timothy Leary dreams.
I’ve got dibs on the rest of that brownie.
Get down to Saint’s a try one. Make sure you tell them how great it is that they have brownies. I think they’re on a test mode.
Wishing you and your family a Blessed Thanksgiving.
Best wishes to you and yours as well Karl!
My train’s about to duck under the Hudson for Penn Station, while Melody waits patiently back at Long Branch. Happy to be riding – no snow here in Joisey so far, fingers crossed.
Do get better, and have a terrific Thanksgiving!
Best wishes for a fair weather day for Thanksgiving and the best to you and your family.
Bummed to hear your meds are causing your stomach to roil…..as to picturing one’s car in one’s travels, not quite the same is it 🙂
Perhaps if I had a more interesting call things would be different. An old Land Rover or a 1970 VW Campmobile. But modern cars — bland at best.
Steve, after my Dr. checkout and low platelets in my blood test he said I need to have “more green leafy stuff in my diet” …this last year I had been sick a lot. So I have been mixing this great stuff in with my protein shake before I go working out…it’s incredibly effective. I feel so much better!!! Full of chlorophyll which is directly responsible for platelets and my immune system…mix with your favorite juice otherwise it tastes like your drinking your lawn.
https://www.vitasave.ca/organic-traditions-certified-organic-wheatgrass-juice-powder.html
Oh man, wheat grass… I had to make diet changes and poured a lot of fresh and raw vegetables into my diet along with a dramatic decline in fat. Lost weight and felt much better. Never got to the point where I need to supplement that. The surprising part of that kind of diet is how expensive it is to eat fresh vegetables. Man oh man. If you don’t have money you would be relegated to canned or frozen vegetables. They’re not bad but definitely different and more challenging to prepare.
I guess what I’m saying — I’m not prepared at this time to use wheatgrass powder… 😉
I can’t think of a car that’s more scooter like than the Fit. A trunk, an engine that lives in a compartment and an automatic transmission. The Honda gets you where you’re going and is economical. Plus it’s sized well and is not a truck.
Exactly right. It’s an amazing bit of engineering. It cruises smoothly and quietly at 80mph too. The other ride is a Honda minivan. Luxurious in comparison. Neither would be a good match if I were riding a Harley or other big motorcycle. But they both resonate well with the Vespa.
Doesn’t really matter how you get there, does it?
Well, for me it does. Walking would be tough. Running a nightmare. And a bicycle wouldn’t be a first choice. And there are a host of automobiles I would prefer not to drive. Mostly old ones. The journey is as important as the destination. And how you make the journey affects the experience don’t you think??
Last time I was out on the bike would be a week ago tomorrow, Tuesday. I’m thinking it is going to have to be a stunner to lure me out as it now takes longer to get dressed and undressed for the ride than the ride itself, as you have pointed out. so I will slip a camera into pocket or hide it under yet another layer and venture out on foot in search of a comforting espresso and with any luck the odd interesting snapshot. Spring is just around the corner is it not?
Unfortunately for me a “stunner” would mean falling snow, wind or some other environmental quality that adds mystery to the landscape. So I’m trying to acclimate to the cold so I’m ready for those stunning days. Haven’t had any in the past few weeks but I’m sure they’re on their way.
Feel better soon. Antibiotics are nasty stuff, but at least they’ll rid you of “the crud” (as my mom calls it).
As always I enjoy your photographs. No matter if you are on two wheels, two feet, or four wheels.
A few more days and the course of antibiotics will be complete. Then my stomach can begin to repopulate it’s normal flora of bacteria!
This comes in rather late, but…
In this household, the wife has the car (a Honda CR-V…see, there’s a parallel or two here), and I have the GTS. As mentioned in another thread or two before, an old form of PTSD from a long-ago car accident largely keeps me from feeling comfortable behind the wheel…but not behind the handlebar. This has confused everyone from both my parents, when they were still alive, to my wife, although she’s fairly accepting. (Hell, she helped me buy a new Vespa when a proper used one didn’t materialize.) So I ride though Winter largely from necessity unless conditions (snow/ice) dictate otherwise. Other than still needing to buy better cold-weather riding gloves (and/or those Tucano muffs that seem to be working well for you), I’m managing okay so far. I tell myself this makes me appreciate the warmer months all the more. 🙂
I love the big sky pics, and am always drawn to lichen, moss, anything with lots of texture.
Same here. Rocks, lichens and such abound here providing lots of photographic fodder.