gratitude Archives - Scooter in the Sticks Exploring life on a Vespa, Royal Enfield Himalayan, Honda Trail 125, and a Kawasaki W650 Sat, 25 Jul 2026 17:30:05 +0000 en-US hourly 1 71084491 An Ordinary, Mundane Ride https://scooterinthesticks.com/2026/07/an-ordinary-mundane-ride/ https://scooterinthesticks.com/2026/07/an-ordinary-mundane-ride/#comments Mon, 27 Jul 2026 16:00:00 +0000 https://scooterinthesticks.com/?p=11882 I’ve Been Here Many Times Before Expectations can trip me up if I cling to them too strongly. Thinking a ride has to be some sort of exceptional adventure is the sort of thinking that can rob me of opportunities that are anything but an adventure. Those days when I only have an hour to […]

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]]> https://scooterinthesticks.com/2026/07/an-ordinary-mundane-ride/feed/ 10 11882 Riding and the Meaning of Life https://scooterinthesticks.com/2026/07/riding-and-the-meaning-of-life/ https://scooterinthesticks.com/2026/07/riding-and-the-meaning-of-life/#comments Fri, 17 Jul 2026 10:00:00 +0000 https://scooterinthesticks.com/?p=11843 Why We Ride A fine marketing slogan that swept through the Moto-world a few years ago with the predictable declarations of freedom and escape. I don’t deny those things for they are certainly present, but there is something larger at work as I ride. On the surface, I rolled the Kawasaki W650 motorcycle out the […]

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]]> https://scooterinthesticks.com/2026/07/riding-and-the-meaning-of-life/feed/ 12 11843 The Power of Fog and Riding https://scooterinthesticks.com/2026/07/the-power-of-fog-and-riding/ https://scooterinthesticks.com/2026/07/the-power-of-fog-and-riding/#comments Mon, 13 Jul 2026 10:00:00 +0000 https://scooterinthesticks.com/?p=11827 Powerful Motivator Fog still has power over me. Awakening at 5:30 AM and catching a glimpse of that magical murk drives the sleep from mind and body and I am ready to ride. Or more precisely, ride so I can document the world I seldom see. The one shrouded in fog and stripped of the […]

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]]> https://scooterinthesticks.com/2026/07/the-power-of-fog-and-riding/feed/ 6 11827 Aging and the Desire to Ride Motorcycles https://scooterinthesticks.com/2026/07/aging-and-the-desire-to-ride-motorcycles/ https://scooterinthesticks.com/2026/07/aging-and-the-desire-to-ride-motorcycles/#comments Fri, 03 Jul 2026 10:00:00 +0000 https://scooterinthesticks.com/?p=11762 As Old as I Think The air was clear, the light brilliant as my friend Dave and I started our ride to breakfast. I can’t count how many times I’ve stopped at Wampler to take in the view, thrilled that the only evidence of civilization are motorcycles and the path carved from the side of […]

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]]> https://scooterinthesticks.com/2026/07/aging-and-the-desire-to-ride-motorcycles/feed/ 8 11762 A Tiny Taste of Freedom https://scooterinthesticks.com/2026/06/a-tiny-taste-of-freedom/ https://scooterinthesticks.com/2026/06/a-tiny-taste-of-freedom/#comments Mon, 22 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0000 https://scooterinthesticks.com/?p=11707 Do You Taste Freedom When You Ride? This portrait is different from other portraits made of the Vespa scooter. I made it with a tiny taste of freedom in my mouth. The word freedom is tossed at everything from promises made by salesman about new cars to politicians proclaiming it with shaking fists. Abstract descriptions […]

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]]> https://scooterinthesticks.com/2026/06/a-tiny-taste-of-freedom/feed/ 14 11707 Do I Ride to Escape Reality? https://scooterinthesticks.com/2026/06/do-i-ride-to-escape-reality/ https://scooterinthesticks.com/2026/06/do-i-ride-to-escape-reality/#comments Fri, 19 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0000 https://scooterinthesticks.com/?p=11697 Glad I’m Not Young In a culture obsessed with looking, acting, and being young I’m definitely off course and on a different road. It’s taken some time but I’m comfortable in my skin and with the circumstances of each moment as it comes along. I’m not saying I don’t care about how I look or […]

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]]> https://scooterinthesticks.com/2026/06/do-i-ride-to-escape-reality/feed/ 12 11697 Friends That Ride Motorcycles and Scooters https://scooterinthesticks.com/2026/06/friends-that-ride-motorcycles-and-scooters/ https://scooterinthesticks.com/2026/06/friends-that-ride-motorcycles-and-scooters/#comments Mon, 01 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0000 https://scooterinthesticks.com/?p=11614 Haunted by Ghosts Without this post becoming a treatise on psychological therapy, I should point out there are broken aspects of my character that having friends that ride helps cure. For years I thought no one liked me. It’s origins likely dwell in very early romantic rejections. Combine it with the isolation and solitude that […]

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]]> https://scooterinthesticks.com/2026/06/friends-that-ride-motorcycles-and-scooters/feed/ 21 11614 Riding in Pennsylvania’s Magnificent Forests https://scooterinthesticks.com/2026/05/riding-in-pennsylvanias-magnificent-forests/ https://scooterinthesticks.com/2026/05/riding-in-pennsylvanias-magnificent-forests/#comments Fri, 29 May 2026 10:00:00 +0000 https://scooterinthesticks.com/?p=11563 Surrounded by Trees Every rider finds themselves blessed (or cursed) by where they live. Long ago I knew living in the middle of the vast forest lands of central Pennsylvania was a gift. In 1681, when King Charles II gave a nearly 29-million-acre expanse of old-growth trees to William Penn, clearing a Royal debt and […]

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]]> https://scooterinthesticks.com/2026/05/riding-in-pennsylvanias-magnificent-forests/feed/ 12 11563 Tiny Rides https://scooterinthesticks.com/2026/05/tiny-rides/ https://scooterinthesticks.com/2026/05/tiny-rides/#comments Mon, 25 May 2026 10:00:00 +0000 https://scooterinthesticks.com/?p=11552 What is a Tiny Ride? It would be nice if every ride could be a grand adventure. Days or weeks exploring, unfettered by the weight of duty and the responsibility of maintaining a life. But ask yourself, how many of your rides fit into that specific category of two-wheeled activity? A lucid look in the […]

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]]> https://scooterinthesticks.com/2026/05/tiny-rides/feed/ 12 11552 Riding into Serenity https://scooterinthesticks.com/2025/05/riding-into-serenity/ https://scooterinthesticks.com/2025/05/riding-into-serenity/#comments Fri, 02 May 2025 00:39:36 +0000 https://scooterinthesticks.com/?p=11310 A Therapeutic Contraption Early this morning, sitting in the garden, I found myself increasingly agitated. Angry. Anxious. Resentful. A neighborhood dog barking incessantly. A concrete saw screaming as it created expansion joints. A gas powered leaf blower filling in any audible gaps that might reveal just a glimmer of serenity. It was a beautiful day […]

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