Scooter in the Sticks

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

Life Tempered by Vespa

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Steve Williams portraitCan You Spell Razor?

Seems as if things have gotten to the point where I shave on the weekend.  Work, life, everything piles up to force choices.  Last night someone told me I look like Steve Jobs.  I don’t see it.

I was staring into a 16mm lens when our photographer snapped this picture.  He was reminding me how the camera works as I was recalled to action for a photo assignment.  It wasn’t on my list of things to do when I arrived in my office in the morning but sometimes you just have to go with the flow.

Vespa GTS scooter on a foggy morningQuiet Commute in the Fog

Riding to and from work provides a fantastic opportunity to quiet the mind before the day spins up.  The weather has been warm and misty this week with some lovely fog to ride through.  Just down the street from home I took a moment to take in the sunrise before continuing on to the office.

This scene would look equally nice with a motorcycle.

Senator Tim Kaine at the Berkey CreameryIce Cream at the Penn State Berkey Creamery

Senator Tim Kaine made a campaign stop at Penn State today.  After a speech to students at the Hetzel Union Building he made a quick stop at the Berkey Creamery for some ice cream.  It’s always interesting to observe how these events unfold from the staff and press corps to the work of the Secret Service. I could see a lot of agents and assume there were others that I didn’t.  Security was more intense when Senator Obama was campaigned for President.  And even stricter when I photographed President George W. Bush.  When President Clinton was here there were snipers down the hall from my office.

There’s a lot of energy in these events.  As a photographer, especially one not engaged in the business anymore on a daily basis, the crowded jostling of the press corps is a unique experience as everyone pushes for position. Behind me were a dozen or so photographers, videographers and writers.

Vespa GTS in an autumn sunriseLive Free or Die

New Hampshire’s state motto seems an appropriate life strategy when things get particularly chaotic.  Riding the scooter can shine a light on what’s important and what’s not.  I still marvel and how easy it is to break life down into the simplest of components.  Live free or die makes total sense.

The warm weather is departing as autumn advances toward winter.  It’s all happening too fast.

Retirement: A New Adventure

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foggy country roadWhat’s Ahead on the Road?

A foggy ride to work this week and I’m wondering what’s ahead on the road just beyond what I can see.  And I’m wondering the same thing about my life.  My employer, Penn State, is offering an incentive for myself and over 1200 of my colleagues to retire.  After a career spanning over 42 years it opens the door for a new adventure.

I guess.

Even though I ride my Vespa in fog and snow I’m not a person who takes risks.  Retirement feels like a big one.  And I don’t really know why other than it brings a dramatic change to a life built on routine and ritual.

Vespa scooters with motorcyclesLife on Campus

I’ve been parking a Vespa on campus for over ten years.  A lot longer for a cars.  As I looked at the scooter parked outside my office I can’t help but wonder what all these years meant.  Retirement means walking away and not coming back.  Like saying goodbye to an old, familiar friend and knowing it will never be the same.

The financial calculations are complete.  And I have some pretty serious plans for life after Penn State that will keep me busy with things I want to do.  But I hesitate.

I’ll be going for a long ride in the morning to think about the offer and make a decision.  I have six days to sign a letter of intent if I want to take advantage of the incentive offer.  Or keep working and retire down the road.  If I decide to sign the paper there’s no turning back.  At the end of June 2017 I would be a full-time Vespa rider.

Retirement.  That would be a new adventure.

Official Geezerdom

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Dogs offering birthday greetingsHappy Birthday Daddy

The dogs greeted me with reminders of the big day — geezerdom and eligibility for Social Security all coming together in a cosmic event.  There’s a full moon in the sky as I write.  I still remember throwing rocks at plastic soldiers dug into a road bank after school. Shooting photo assignments for the Daily Collegian at Penn State seem like they happened yesterday.  And now suddenly, without warning or explanation, I’m 62 years old.

The dogs think it’s just another day.  You have to love them for that.

There are no Vespa photographs in this post.  I rode to work today but didn’t feel the urge to make any photographs of the scooter.  It’s a holiday.

Shadows of the dog and I on a late day walk in the parkIt’s Late in the Day

Long shadows indicate the end of the day.  I see a metaphor for the position I occupy on the course of my life.  A birthday offers an opportunity to think about what’s ahead.  Lily and I walk in the park, a chance for me to exercise and her how to walk on a leash.  I’m averaging 12 thousand steps a day.  She’s not doing so well on the leash.

Progress not perfection.

Sunset and Mount NittanyWatching the Sunset

Late in the day Junior and I take a walk to the top of the hill to watch the sun go down over Mount Nittany.  Behind me a full moon rises to later illuminate the night.  Kim bought me a Nikon DSLR camera and two lenses for my birthday.  After years of lugging big, heavy professional cameras I’m looking forward to a smaller, lighter version — the D3300.  I’m excited to entertain the next steps in my photographic journey.  Personal and reflective.  No art directors or clients.

Just me and the world.

So far, it’s been quite a party.

 

Balancing Riding with Life

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stone steps in naturalized gardenWorking with Stone

Evidence of work; an iPhone image at dusk of of a series of meandering stone steps rising through a steep part of our woodland garden.   A day ago this was thick with mountain laurel, ferns and other plants.  Even the dogs had trouble penetrating this area.  While sitting in my little chair in the garden with a bowl of cereal I decided another pathway was necessary and abandoned plans to ride the Vespa.

A lesson in balancing riding with life.

Blue sky and clouds over central PennsylvaniaBlue Skies over Central Pennsylvania

Balance has never been an easy state to achieve as I can become obsessively focused on a task — particularly one as enjoyable as riding.  A week ago I was on the road and enjoying the clear air and low humidity on a morning ride in central Pennsylvania.  It would be a lie to suggest any sort of balance — I was just doing what I wanted to do — ride the Vespa scooter.

Vespa GTS scooter along side a cornfieldOn a Clear Day You Can See for Miles

The riding weather a week ago was exceptional — not too hot and low humidity.  As the week progressed the temperatures climbed along with the feeling that everything was moist.  I confess a level of disappointment riding on sunny days.  Everything seems too easy and relaxed with little natural drama to behold.  It affects my desire to make photographs too.  Everything looks like a postcard which to me translates as boring.

Still the desire to ride wins out and I headed south out of town to no where in particular.

Vespa GTS scooter with a 1932 Ford hot rodHot Rod and Scooter

This ’32 Ford Hot Rod looked dazzling in the parking lot at the Spruce Creek Bakery. My father always talked about building one of these but ended up always working on some other more conventionally useful and adult project.  I’m not sure how his example informs my own behavior.

The owner told me this was a kit car and not build from a ’32 Ford.  And I think it has a Chevy engine complete with some snazzy looking Offenhauser heads and dual four-barrel carbs on an Edelbrock high rise intake manifold.  For a few moments these brands transported me back to hours spent on a creeper underneath cars dreaming of building fast cars.  Those motor head days are behind me.

The chrome sparkled in the sunlight. I bought chocolate chip cookies at the bakery.

Vespa GTS scooter along the railroad tracksWaiting for Trains

If I ever hope to photograph the scooter with a train I need to coordinate schedules better.  These two tracks carry all the freight and passengers back and forth across Pennsylvania.  As I write this passage I struggle to remember how I got to this place.  I do remember a spark of excitement at the possibility of seeing a train.  My wife’s cousin was an engineer for Penn Central then Conrail and finally Norfolk Southern until his retirement.  He spent years running trains east to Philadelphia and west as far as Chicago.

I’ve still not ridden a train in the United States.  That’s a sin.

Vespa GTS scooter and the Allegheny PlateauLeaving the Allegheny Plateau

The morning evaporated during a long, meandering ride through three counties and across the ridge and valley region and onto the Allegheny Plateau.  As I stood along the road making this picture I felt an odd satisfaction knowing the Vespa had transported me to this point all the way from the horizon.  By the time I would return home the scooter and I would ride another 120 miles.

Vespa GTS scooter and farmlandChildren of the Corn

This time of year the cornfields are beginning to soar across the wide agricultural valleys of Pennsylvania. I’m grateful to be able to so easily escape the noise and confusion of town so quickly and easily to find myself standing somewhere and look to the horizon and know there’s more of the same rural landscape.

Thinking about balance while riding usually means an eye on the clock to be home by a certain time.  Kim wants to see me.  The dogs demand my presence.  It’s an old balance.

Vespa GTS scooter with the Big Vespa sculptureThe Big Vespa

I was surprised to see the Big Vespa sculpture on a trailer on my way home.  At one point the creator, William Snyder III, was going to set it up at my house for awhile as a temporary storage site until a better location surfaced.  Will and I were in art school together.  I photograph a Vespa.  He builds monuments to them.

This one is 16 feet tall.

Arriving home, tired, sated with riding, hungry and smiling inside I’m uncertain if I’ve learned anything about balancing riding with life.

Perhaps I’m looking at it all wrong.  Maybe riding is life…

Talking with God

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Portrait of Steve Williams at Waterfront Tavern in Lewistown, PennsylvaniaReflection at the Waterfront Tavern — Lewistown, Pennsylvania

There are things to learn looking in the mirror, or at a photograph.  Especially when we’re the subject. I’ve always felt some mystery or lesson lurked just below the surface, just out of reach but close enough to sense that there’s more there than meets the eye.  My friend Paul Ruby made this picture while I stared out the window toward the Juniata River as we arrived for breakfast after 94 miles on the road. Looking at it now I can see I was somewhere else, lost in thought in a manner that riding can produce and can leave me drained.

Long before I parked the Vespa outside I had been having a conversation; one I call talking with God.

Ducati motorcycle and Vespa GTS scooter along route 45 in PennsylvaniaOn the Road

Like so many rides they begin with the shimmering joy of being on the road.  Morning, sunshine, cool air and a road rolling out ahead, I feel a sit up straight and ear to ear grin excitement of being alive in the world — a world that seems to belong to me and no one else.  In this solitude, even when riding with someone else, I find myself making observations of the landscape sweeping by, puzzling over imagined route choices ahead, and entertaining questions that during most other times remain unasked.

Just beyond the curve at the end of the road in this picture a friend lost his leg in a motorcycle crash some years ago.  I’ve often asked if something like that will happen to me.  What would I do?  How would I react?  And before long I’m open to a host of existential questions — those concerns of human existence.  Riding provides space to ask “Why?”.  Questioning ourselves, our existence, that’s nothing new.  Human history is filled with examples of questioning in art and literature.  It’s one thing to read about the experience of others coming to terms with existence.  Another matter when you’re doing it yourself.

Regardless of your personal beliefs, avenues of spirituality or any other process of questioning or enlightenment, I suspect many riders find themselves coming face to face with themselves on the road and asking questions that don’t always have easy or comfortable answers.

I call it talking to God.

Vespa scooter and Ducati motorcycle along a winding roadWinding Roads in Pennsylvania

Pennsylvania has an incredible diversity of roads through myriad landscapes and geography.  It’s estimated that there are a quarter million miles of roads in Pennsylvania ranking it 11th in the nation. I don’t suspect I’ll travel them all.

Paul and I stopped to admire a small stream gently tumbling through a gap along Bearpen Hollow as we rode down over Stone Mountain and into Belleville, Pennsylvania.

Just 12 miles to the east is a faster route, one with four lanes of controlled access that allows for speed and efficiency.  Speed and efficiency.  For me, something I choose to escape from rather than embrace.  I have few thoughts save for how to deal with the boredom of riding on the super slab.

Vespa scooter in Amish CountryAmish Country

Rich agricultural scenes and thriving Amish communities make Big Valley almost seem like something from another time.  I don’t bother the Amish with my camera but I can say I never tire of seeing horse drawn wagons and buggies trotting along the farm lanes and paved roads.  I’ve wondered many questions about a life I’ll never know.

Vespa at scenic overlook in central PennsylvaniaView of the World

The view from the summit of Jacks Mountain is always breathtaking.  I look out over the expansive space and feel the tiny space I occupy in the world.  The sense of anonymity also creates a bit of freedom in my head to address the fear and regret that inevitably shows itself during a ride when you talk to God.

I’ve spoken to riders who claim to never question themselves, past, present or future, but instead travel through life sure and certain what the road ahead will bring.

That’s not me.

Ducati and Vespa along RT 103 in PennsylvaniaDucati and Vespa

With four times the horsepower and little additional weight Paul’s Ducati Hypermotard seems a fine riding partner for the Vespa GTS 250 I ride.  I’m often asked about the scooter’s ability to “keep up” and from first hand experience it will keep up with any motorcycle traveling the legal speed limits.  Anything else is, well, not important.  To me at least.

What was to be a quick route to breakfast turned into a long route to lunch.  Parked here on the east shore of the Juniata River not far from Mount Union there was still 31 miles to Lewistown along lovely winding roads.

The weather was perfect for riding.  And the ride was perfect for talking with God.  I asked a lot of questions and released a lot of baggage.

What more could I ask from a ride?