gratitude Archives - Scooter in the Sticks

Does Riding Make You Grateful?

Scooter in the Sticks — Mon, 05 Oct 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Morning Experiences Waking up, splashing warm water on my face, entering the garden with the dogs, I always find two things — excitement at what the day may bring, and gratitude to witness it. Something unfamiliar when I was still working and mornings were a chaotic rush to try and strangle the day into submission. […]

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Don’t Let the Old Man In

Scooter in the Sticks — Fri, 25 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Cool Air and a Heavy Sky Being old isn’t just a physical state. It is a state of mind. And if I want to remain “young”, especially in the face of physical decline, I need to push away the feelings that life is finished when I wake with more aches and pains than usual. Sounds […]

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Making Sense of Life with a Vespa ET4 Scooter

Scooter in the Sticks — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Learning on the Road No matter how diligently I work at managing my life it persists in being messy and chaotic. I used to believe that there was a simple solution, a process by which I could forever be free of the noise and just relax and be happy. Definitely one of those beliefs emerging […]

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In Sickness and in Health

Scooter in the Sticks — Mon, 07 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000

A post-surgical view My wife and I have been married for over thirty years. The youth and energy that drove our lives when we began changes and fades over time. And a recent spine surgery that my wife underwent reminds me of the marriage vows I swore so many years ago. …in sickness and in […]

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Riding in Circles

Scooter in the Sticks — Fri, 04 Sep 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Text Messages “I’m honda trailing to grange if u want to tag along for the ride” Verbatim from Paul. Capitalization and punctuation aren’t required to understand the offer. While I have no desire to go to the Grange Fair it would be nice to get out of the house and go for a ride. That’s […]

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Friendship Follows Interests: Riding and Photography

Scooter in the Sticks — Fri, 28 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Making Friends A young man I know complains how hard it is to meet people. To make friends. For me, friendships have all developed from common interests. Years ago it was hiking and backpacking. Then photography, and now riding. I’d like to tell that young man he is unlikely to find friends at bars, playing […]

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Discovering New Places

Scooter in the Sticks — Fri, 21 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Overlooked Places Just a mile or so to the right in this photograph is a road I’ve ridden or driven a hundred times or more. Somehow I never realized another world existed just over the hill. Sitting in my living room the previous evening with my good friend Google Maps I discovered some roads I […]

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A 150cc Vespa Scooter: Grateful for the Little Things

Scooter in the Sticks — Mon, 17 Aug 2026 12:00:00 +0000

Mistaken Thinking In my brief and seldom views into the social and marketing realms of the Moto-world I’m always shocked at how overwhelming the size, weight, power, and tech can be. It feels a lot like going into a hotel and turning on the TV and feeling it’s all commercials and pitches with very little […]

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Frustration and Gratitude

Scooter in the Sticks — Fri, 07 Aug 2026 16:00:00 +0000

The Mental Merry-Go-Round Over and over I’m reminded that there’s little profit in holding too tightly to my plans. It was demonstrated again as I prepared for a long ride with my friend Paul and proceeded to rip the tire valve from a rear tire of my W650 before even leaving the driveway. Hugely frustrating […]

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An Ordinary, Mundane Ride

Scooter in the Sticks — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 16:00:00 +0000

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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