Scooter in the Sticks

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

Looking Out the Window

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Glass of water on window sill with Vespa scooter outsideMorning Water and Vespa Scooter

I always look out windows. Wherever I am, whatever I’m doing, there’s a hope of actually seeing the world. Sitting in the back seat of the car next to my granddaughter it was interesting to watch her young eyes peer out the window at the world.  I wondered how different her world must look from one weighed down with a lifetime of experience and opinion.

Mornings find me in an oak rocker with a bowl of cereal, gazing at nothing in particular, looking out the window as the day takes shape.  But the looking drives me like nothing else.  When I’m tired and exhausted you won’t find me rising to answer a phone or take on another chore, but I’ll always take another look out the window.

Riding is like that.  I’ll always ride one more mile — to see what’s out that road window ahead.Continue Reading

Power of a Blue Sky

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Vespa GTS under a blue sky.Thoughts Under a Blue Sky

Riding home from work today, the first hot day of the season, was a slow and meandering trip under a clear blue sky.  Looking up at the clouds I felt an elation I can only associate with everything being okay — at the moment and in a more general sense.

I know it’s just a feeling but always a welcome state of mind on a hectic day that’s a montage of activity at work and home mixed up with the news of the day.  As I thought about this post, I happened upon a passage written by Anne Frank regarding the hopeful nature that comes from looking up at the sky.  Written nearly 73 years ago, her words and thoughts, at age 14, seem far beyond her years. Seemed somehow appropriate despite the dramatic difference of her world from mine.

“It’s a wonder I haven’t abandoned all my ideals, they seem so absurd and impractical. Yet I cling to them because I still believe, in spite of everything, that people are truly good at heart.
It’s utterly impossible for me to build my life on a foundation of chaos, suffering and death. I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness, I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too, I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty too shall end, that peace and tranquility will return once more”

Anne Frank
– July 15, 1944

 

See the World

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Vespa GTS scooter at sunset along a rural roadRoad of Life

The ride is not always the end in itself.  Sometimes it’s an excuse for something else.  For me, that excuse is a desire to see the world.

After a day at work, or in some situation where I’m cut off from “the world”, I feel the pull to get out and away and experience the thrum and sound of the places and people who I share this space.  The Vespa scooter as it winds it’s way along roads and through towns, the places it delivers me to drink tea and watch the people around me, it is the perfect tool to serve up a dose of the world.

The rain moved out of the valley by the end of the day and the long light as the sun neared the horizon painted a dazzling portrait.  Riding the scooter along the rural roads near home entertained the senses — the sweet smells of flowers and grass, the sound of birds lost in twitterpation at the end of a day, and the mesmerizing scenes that unfold mile after mile.Continue Reading

Oddness and Other Life Experiences

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glowing sunrise view of Vespa GTS scooterRiding into the Sunset or Sunrise?

Today promises to be an odd life experience.  I’ll be interviewing a person who may replace me at Penn State.  Writing questions last night I found myself wondering if we need someone like me, or someone who can address gaps, pain points and a future I don’t even know exists.

And I wonder if I’m riding into the sunset of a life or into the sunrise of a new one.  I prefer the latter.

Not scooter ride today.  The cage may be called into service at some point during the day.  But I know I’ll think of riding once or twice between now and when I fall asleep tonight.

Riding — it’s really a disease…

Mental Constipation

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Vespa GTS scooter on a country roadRiding is the Best Medicine

The Urban Dictionary defines mental constipation as “An inability to articulate one’s thoughts or ideas, resulting in significant psychological distress and frustration.”  That comes as close to the state I’ve found myself in for the past couple weeks.

That inability to articulate, the decline in posts, is a reflection of work, circumstance and acts of God.

I have been riding during that time — good medicine to manage the frustrations currently on the table.  A recent Saturday morning the Vespa took me on a wandering ride through the local countryside, each mile unwinding the pressures of the previous week.

I often ride alone.  At times it’s to selfishly consume the experience for myself without distraction.  On others — to treat the mental constipation.  Riding is the best medicine.

Vespa GTS scooterVespa Methodology

There’s a discipline connected to riding a scooter or motorcycle that can have a magical effect on the mind and body.  It’s odd that a machine can have a therapeutic influence on day-to-day living.

Holding the grips, twisting the throttle, feeling the wind on my chest as I ride along a country road, these physical experiences condense into a psychic elixir that’s good for what ails a man or woman.

Those who don’t ride may never understand.

The spring air, the emerging green of life along with the light that whispers “spring” are just part of a unique mix of that elixir.

Vespa GTS scooter in an open fieldRiding in Another World

Riding, experiencing the world beyond the confines of an office or home, opens a window to a wider life. Standing alone in the dirt miles from home, alone with my thoughts, reminds me once again how important it is to step away from the wheel and just stand still.  For many riding is about speed and distance.  I suggest it can be about something else.  It’s not a competition based on arbitrary measures.

Riding is an experience for the soul.

Vespa GTS scooter in the morning sunshineVespa Scooter and a New Day

The days have brought along much noise.  At work I’m deep in the search to find my replacement before retirement.  An odd experience to talk to people who may assume your role.  And last week, storms left our home without power for three days, brought down three 80 feet tall trees and generally wrought unexpected havoc.  I was reminded of the power of the ride.

And an appreciation of a hot shower.