Scooter in the Sticks

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

Change and Choice

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Riding Panacea

2022 Royal Enfield Himalayan motorcycle on a mountain road in the forest.
Finding that peaceful, easy feeling.

Looking over the blog posts of the past year reveals a steady decline in the production of stories, essays, and messages along with the attendant photographs that have been a stable of Scooter in the Sticks for 15 years.

Any deep investigation of this trend has been avoided, passed off to the realm of riding where an imagined revelation would occur and provide a solid, succinct roadmap for the future of Scooter in the Sticks.

I’ve been generously rewarded by riding my scooters and motorcycles. Insight, understanding, and clarity revealed during a ride have not been uncommon. But to think riding is a panacea that can replace thinking and hard work is simply not true. At least for me.

So I’ve been struggling with what to do with this blog.

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Emerging From the Summer Doldrums

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Vespa ET4 scooter in Boalsburg, PA.
A stop with my Vespa ET4 in historic Boalsburg on my way to an early breakfast.

Summer Sloth

I resist writing “I hate summer” but it certainly feels that way as I surface from the summer doldrums of inaction and sloth. When the temperature goes up, I don’t feel like doing anything. Instead, I’ve been making some short morning rides to breakfast and hanging out with my family, friends, and my dogs.

And for many years now, riding in summer was not something I looked forward to. My temperature envelop has narrowed with age. Now my comfort range is 35F to 75F. No wonder much of summer is excluded from riding.

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Springtime Blog Cleaning

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Portrait of Steve Williams, scooter and motorcycle rider.
Made it through another winter.

A Time for Questions

Ugh. It’s raining, it’s snowing, it’s hot, it’s cold. The change of seasons introduces so much change and confusion that it seems appropriate to commence a springtime blog cleaning.

Springtime blog cleaning is a softer way of saying “get your shit together Steve.”

Yeah, I need to do that. At least maybe shave and get a haircut.

There’s a lot going on and some of it stands in the way of riding, writing, photography, blogging, vlogging, and a host of civilian activities like rewiring light fixtures in the basement and garage and completing plumbing work in the bathroom.

Life is good.

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Dispatch at 3:17am

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Dog at Boalsburg Moto HangBoalsburg Moto Hang

At 3am my mind wanders.  Should be sleeping.  A rise for a drink of what has the brain turning again and creating a mental checklist of things to do and others to avoid.  The joys of thoughts in the middle of the night. Today is the Boalsburg Moto Hang — this episode being hosted by Kissell Motorsports in Tyrone, Pennsylvania.  Rode down there yesterday.  Suppose another ride today makes sense.

My dog Junior attended the last Moto Hang.  He tolerates the event though truth be told he would rather be walking than forced to socialize.Continue Reading

Interviews and an Internet Persona

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Steve Williams and his Vespa GTS scooter during a winter rideWho Am I?

I ask the question often.  Usually in response to the latest puzzling act I’ve engaged.

Each word or picture posted on Scooter in the Sticks becomes part of a constructed persona tallied in the digital ether and searchable by Google, Bing and myriad other search engines. My mother only exists as a cryptic reference in a paid news site that archived obituaries. My father is one step ahead because his obit is still publicly available.

Engaging in the self-absorbed act of searching my name in Google (along with “Vespa” to differentiate from Tiger Wood’s caddy or Stone Cold Steve Austen), it’s strange to see the persona that’s presented; the reflections that resonate as me, and others that have me wondering, ‘Who is that guy?’

It’s interesting to see the history of change over time. Especially in regard to riding a Vespa and blogging.

Recently I had the opportunity to be interviewed by fellow blogger (and video blogger) David Masse. His work and experiences are presented on Life on Two Wheels. He’s posted two videos — one a reflection of a day long ride we took, and a second an interview with me where we discussed the realities of blogging and why we do it.

Personal questions no doubt. And perhaps only of interest to other bloggers or would-be bloggers. For me, the interview is a curious check of who I am at this moment in time.

Visit Life on Two Wheels to see the riding video. Especially if you’re interested in what a little trip through central Pennsylvania might look like on two wheels.

It’s not the first time I’ve taken part in an interview. Dave Mangano, creator of SCTRCST, the Scooter Internet Radio podcast, interviewed me three times during his run of 94 episodes covering a wide range of scooter topics. Even though his site is now gone, the episodes persist on the web. Mine were espisode 7, 8 and 34.

Much time and many miles have gone by since those early interviews. And a lot has changed. But riding the Vespa, making photographs and writing about the experience persists.