Impervious to Cold
Unlike our Belgian Sheepdog Lily, I’m not impervious to the cold and don’t while away the day collecting snow. While this winter has not been bad in terms of temperature or snowfall, it’s been tedious in the relentless cold and gray. I’m tired of winter.
Monotone of Winter
I’m tired of the continual palette of gray, brown and white. When it’s not snowing it’s raining. And always cold. If I do manage to drag myself out on the Vespa my spirits do brighten. But man is it hard to do the dragging. Seems far too easy to sit and watch Netflix or play Left4Dead. I’m working on riding more, especially now that the exhaust note is sweet and quiet again.
Resorting to Photography
More and more this winter I’ve been wandering with a camera without the Vespa. The unrelenting chill in my body has dampened desire to ride but not the desire to be out and see things. So I’ve been shooting more, seeing more, and staying warm. It’s mostly satisfying.
Almost.
Snow and Sherman Tank
Late day wanderings with the dog at the Pennsylvania Military Museum have displaced some of my time on the Vespa scooter. But the cold has strangled many walks as well. I can tell by the tightening of my pants resulting from more eating and sitting.
Winter is just damn depressing this season.
Errand Machine
The scooter remains a faithful steed for running errands. A cold drizzle stood in for snow last week as I rode a circuit from store to store. The rides generate a smile on my face. Why is it so hard to get off my ass and on to the road though?
I plan to ride in the morning despite the prediction of temperatures in the mid-twenties. Easy to say I’ll ride while sitting in a comfortable chair in a warm house. Venturing out in the morning may be a different story.
Time will tell.
I think I know what you mean. This feels like the winter that never ends. Once things start looking more like Spring, we get another dump of snow. In prior years, it never seemed to phase me much. Not the case this year. We are looking forward to a trip to central PA again in a couple of days but the weather there doesn’t look much better than here. Maybe 20°F warmer but not very “Spring-like”…
You hit the nail on the head Richard. Seems like it will never end. Sunny and a bit warmer today. Sunshine makes the world seem like spring…
Your photos Steve pretty well conveyed your winter mood. I wish I could say come to Florida but it’s been the same minus the cold and snow. Weeks of grey skies and 30 mph winds and rain. I like your idea: If you aren’t riding at the moment, get out and walk and walk some more! You otherwise may be riding to a store for new pants!
I don’t want to have to upsize in pants. I’ll have to pay closer attention to activity and intake. More adult stuff.
Hope you get some clearer, calmer weather down your way. The rest of the country relies on Florida to fuel hopes of warm winters!
Our winter too has not been that difficult this year but it is still winter and we are ready for more temperate times. While I spend a considerate amount of winter time pining for a ride I don’t have your resolve Steve and the Motos have stayed put in hibernation. I did get out a week or so ago for a glorious 80 smiles though I too have spend most of my fresh air winter wandering around on two feet packing my G16 and taking pics of small steaming cups of coffee. Chin up … Spring is nigh.
The G16 is a nice wandering companion. Kim has one while I stumble behind with the Canon G15. Both make excellent images.
I can’t wait for warmer weather to ride so I keep pushing forth into the cold. Rode today at 29F. Ah, the familiar pain of frozen fingers…
Good luck with your wandering and hope some warmer weather comes your way soon.
All very true. For some reason the month of March is the tipping point for many, tipping you ask? Yes the month of saying the heck with winter and going to some climate that is somewhat more warm. How about Key West and Conchscooter? Just a thought…
Then again Steve, with Kim’s illness and subsequent surgery you’ve had a “very” stressed
few months, and the winter doldrums did not assist in resolving the situation. Healing
takes time, for Kim and for you too.
Then too climatic changes have made the winter season this time around weird, for lack of a better term. Extreme cold and the start of what may be termed winter combined with considerable snow; none of which dissipated quickly. Winter conditions then remained and still do. A quieter Vespa is a good Vespa, and you now also. have a spare exhaust gasket!
Consider your blog a sounding board, for you, and for those of your readers who wish to comment on same. It gives us a chance to comment, hopefully in a positive way on
your status and perhaps are own. The sun does appear, now and that alone tells us happier/warmer times are ahead.
During the last house call by the neurosurgeon he commented on winter making it tougher on recovering surgical patients for the reasons you suggested. True and true.
Regarding the blog as a sounding board. I certainly use it as such. For myself mostly though I know others find it useful from time to time. At it’s best, the web can provide a supportive fellowship of interested, interesting and like-minded people. Right now, it’s a group of hoping for warmer weather people!
Hang in there Steve..Was 83 here in central Texas yesterday..I didn’t get to ride..Somtimes it ain’t the weather that keeps us from our therapy…Couldn’t imagine life without my Vespa..Love your posts they always inspire me..
Thanks for your kind words Don. I’m with you regarding life without the Vespa. It’s been a close companion for a long time now. Eighty degree weather is some weeks, perhaps months, off yet. I could use a few of those days now to reset my riding soul…
I’m flying to Florida today, renting a bicycle for the beach.
Nice! Perhaps a better experience than Baja.
I am just going to sit here isn So. Ca. and not comment on the weather.
Funny guy. You have better traffic too!
I would agree with you that getting geared up to go is the hardest part. It is just so easy to take the car, but once we get out on two wheels wonder what we were fussing about it.
Let’s hope you see some sunshine soon.
Sunshine today! The world is a fantastic place. Everything is perfect. Ah, the warm light on the face…
You’re right about the car being so easy. And some people have remote starting or keep their cars in snow free garages. How easy is that. No gearing up. Probably explains why I see people walk into coffee shops in short pants and tennis shoes when it’s 15F outside.
Yes, Steve, and it’s not just you: cold is not a very good motivator for much of anything. If it wasn’t for the flurry of freelance IT work this winter, I fear I’d almost balloon to Beluga size instead of just my usual seasonal pudginess.
And the relentless grey days are depressing – and it’s generally pretty hard to get me feeling down about much. Having the wife to cheer me up (and vice-versa) is obviously a Good Thing. Having the alarm-clock-with-fur that is the cat is another (most of the time). And, yes, Melody, the Wonder Vespa. We’ve ridden through more rain than ever this winter, and more than a little snow, which, while in one instance led to the World’s Lowest-Speed Low-Side, has made this season a,tad more bearable than it might have been. And, now that we’ve shoved the hour-hand on our clocks forward a notch…well, it has to get better from here, yes?
Yes, it has to get better from here on. I’m not going to think about the mid 1990s and three feet of snow. It’s all sunshine and daffodils from here on out.
The gray days are depressing. I completely understand the ballooning nature of the season. Now with a little sunshine charge I can perhaps eat a little better and be a little more active.
We’ve not had much of a snowy winter here in the stoner state…cold, yes…windy, yes….but not much snow at least on the Front Range.
Stoner state… funny. Even though you haven’t had a lot of snow you have been getting some magnificent sunsets. Your latest are amazing and I don’t think you’ll get any better. I have a challenge for you. Sunrises. It will be a much bigger challenge to make magnificent sunrises without those mountains as a backdrop! And you’ll have to get up early. Just like your service days. Martha can probably find a recording of Reveille to help get you moving…
Stoner state indeed, Steve, sad but true.
As to sunrises….yes they would be a harder challenge as I used up all my ability to get up before dawn while in the Army…..I like sleeping in now….and the price has been me missing many gorgeous sunrises …..
Maybe when the weather warms you can stay up all night to see the sunrise…
It has been a long, wet, grey winter here in Oregon as well; and has been a difficult year to warm up, even in the house, must be the damp.
We did get out on a ride in the sunshine yesterday and enjoyed it, but we are sore this morning with aches and pains. We’re going to have to ease back into riding this Spring after a sedentary winter.
Only ten more days until Spring, then a month of “April showers”, hang in there!
Oh man, spring can’t come soon enough. That cold in my core can fly away.
I ride enough through the winter that I don’t have to adjust to riding. It becomes much easier because the gearing up process is simpler and the mental stress lessens. There are aches and pains though that have little to do with riding and everything to do with the clock of aging. More on that another time.
Good luck on the rides to come!
Every year now when the bone-chilling winter cold hits me, I say to my wife, “Why haven’t we moved to Florida?” Then a warm spring comes to our area, and I say to her “We live in a nice location.” So we stay put.
Each year, the cycle repeats itself.
The older I get, the more I want to make a change, but the harder it becomes.
Kim and I go through similar conversations. And you’re right about making changes becoming harder and harder. I feel old…
Every winter seems neverending to me. Each time I pass through the garage is torturous. My bikes and scooters sit in confinement and I feel about the same. The calendar says Spring is only ten days away. Jeez I hope so.
Ten days. I can hardly wait!
Wow, I guess after reading some of the above comments I shouldn’t complain. Here in the Cornhusker state winter has been relatively mild (mid upper 60’s primarily) and I haven’t seen a trace of snow (highly unusual, I can assure you) and almost no wind at all (even rarer!).
In fact the only annoyance I can report is the constantly recurring “Aren’t you EVER coming up out of the basement?” that echoes down from the top of the stairs in a voice eerily similar to my beloved wife. AND she has given up responding to my answering her question with “Is it May yet?” and I find that a bit annoying as well.
But other than that…..
Hah. A tough life! Hope you come out of the basement before May.
Hello Steve,
Nous aussi en France, nous sommes fatigués de l’hiver…
Froid et pluie depuis plusieurs mois…
Vivement le printemps !
We too in France are tired of winter …
Cold and rain for several months …
Can not wait for the spring !
Laurent.
Le printemps sera bientôt là. Et des promenades plus confortables sur la Vespa!