Scooter in the Sticks

Exploring life on a Vespa Scooter and Royal Enfield Himalayan motorcycle.

Rotating Through Scooters and Motorcycles

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scooters and motorcycles in a garage
My little fleet of scooters and motorcycles.

Too Many Scooters and Motorcycles?

How did I come to have five two-wheeled machines in my little one-bay garage? For fourteen years I was content with a single scooter for all my riding. At least that’s what I told myself, an unconscious dishonesty masking my true feelings and desires — a machine for every riding occasion I might engage.

I can be impulsive buying things that suddenly seem essential to my well being and quality of life. There’s a trail of impulsive purchases through my life from cameras to guns and fountain pens and books. Rather than deal with whatever emotional chaos that’s in front of me I seek the quick and exciting fix of buying things.

Looking at the scooters and motorcycles in my garage, frequently looking and thinking about them, only one borders on an impulsive purchase — the Honda Trail 125. Unlike other impulsive purchases that still sit unused in their box, the Honda has turned out to be a welcome addition to my riding life.

On the other hand, having five machines brings with it expense, maintenance, and other issues of ownership.

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Scooting into Autumn

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Sunrise at the Pennsylvania Military Museum.
Sunrise in mid-October.

Suddenly Autumn

Something has changed over the years regarding the onslaught of autumn and winter. I remember my first hunting trip with my father at 13. It was opening day of Small Game Season in Pennsylvania and as we got out of the truck it was snowing hard. It was mid-October. Long before I was scooting into autumn on a Vespa.

I quit hunting over 50 years ago but the memories of being in the woods with my dad remain fresh. And I remember many cold, wet, snowy days. But now mid-October seems like a lazy summer doldrum day as the sun rises over the dew covered grass as the dogs and I make our morning journey.

The picture was made two weeks ago and autumn emerged suddenly turning green leaves into a warm palette of red, orange, and yellow. And now the leaves are pouring onto the ground to soon reveal the harsh skeleton of winter.

I’m glad I’m aware of the changes. For a lot of my life I was distracted and focused on other things.

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Prescription: Royal Enfield Himalayan and Autumn

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2022 Royal Enfield Himalayan in a rural autumn landscape
Unwinding with an autumn motorcycle ride.

A Change of Scenery

A riding rhythm has eluded me for the past two months. Maybe more. The usual drive to get on the motorcycle or scooter just hasn’t been animating my decisions. Instead, i’ve lost myself in too much television. Too much sugar. Too much sleep. Staring out the window at the changing autumn landscape, wondering what was wrong, it occurred to me the prescription was simple — get on the Royal Enfield Himalayan and go for a ride.

Anywhere. Just a change of scenery would alter how I feel.

And it worked.

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Singular Focus While Riding a Motorcycle

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a chocolate chip cookie
A talisman of singular focus.

Chocolate Chip Cookie

How is it that a chocolate chip cookie is so important to me?

Is it really a talisman of some mindful focus on the present moment? Or merely a reflection of a lifelong addiction to sugar?

I choose to believe the cookie’s oversized importance points to something greater than sugar. A magical draw toward the present. A jumping-off point where I abandon the past and the future and exist now.

Of course, all of this may be a delusion brought on by a rhinovirus that woke me at midnight after hours of sleep, my body sluggish but my mind racing.

Still, there’s something to my singular focus on a cookie.

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When Vespa Riders Gather

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Three modern Vespa scooters in a parking lot.
Evidence of something. A Vespa Primavera and two GTS scooters.

The Magnetic Attraction of Vespa Scooters

If I were adept at mathematics I might create an equation that describes the phenomenon of attraction between these metal machines. Newton, or Einstein might be able to illuminate it. I merely marvel at the scene of suggesting Vespa riders gather.

Like a soft force in the Universe.

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