Scooter in the Sticks

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

Honoring the Dead

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view of a horizon in farm field
A gray day in Central Pennsylvania

Thoughts on Memorial Day

Memorial Day has special significance in Boalsburg, a small central Pennsylvania town that claims to have started the observance of this holiday. Add to that a shrine to the soldiers lost by the 28th Division of the United States Army at the Pennsylvania Military Museum and you have an ongoing reminder of the sacrifices made by men and women in this country.

With less than 10 percent of our population being veterans or serving actively in the military we owe them a debt of gratitude that’s difficult to repay. We owe them more than a vacation day disguised as a celebration of their service.

Granite monument to the battles of the Civil War
A granite monument at the Pennsylvania Military Museum remembering some of the campaigns of the Civil War.

Most of us never had the chance to sacrifice for our country until now. Until a global pandemic has swept across the land leaving our people and economy shivering in surprise and fear. Even the rosy predictions from the White House now peg the death toll at 135 thousand citizens by the end of the summer.

Service and sacrifice are at hand now. Each of us has the opportunity to honor the blood shed by our military through our own choices. To reflect their selfless dedication in our own behavior. To put the well being of our friends and family, neighbors and strangers, ahead of ourselves. We have the opportunity to celebrate the fallen men and women and reflect their sacrifice in our own.

I can’t say what that is for anyone but me.

Today I keep my distance from others as I can. And when I can’t I respect them by wearing a face mask. I am generous and give as I can. I remind myself often that all that I have in this life came with a cost. And I continue to hold in my heart that the United States of America a place of kind and honorable people.

I offer my best wishes to each of you on this Memorial Day.

Video: The Brevity of Life and Other Thoughts While Riding a Vespa Scooter

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Lessons on the Road

I don’t often write about how to ride a scooter. So I won’t start now. Rather I share some of what I experience while riding a Vespa. The thoughts that swirl in my head, concerns for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

That sort of thing.

This VLOG entry is a reflection and re-creation of the sort of things that rattle around in this old man’s head — at home and on the road. It’s almost a video about riding a Vespa.

I’m halfway to my goal of ten video entries before I decide if there’s reason to continue.

Let me know what you think. Subscribe to my YouTube Channel if you want to see more.

I’ll be riding a Vespa scooter more and more as I determine it’s safe to do so. I hope each of you finds the right decisions for you and the specific part of the pandemic you find yourself in.

Video: Maintenance, Helmets and Riding A Vespa Scooter in the Pandemic

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Riding the Vespa scooter around the neighborhood after changing the engine and transmission oil to make sure there were no leaks. Any excuse to ride.

Another VLOG Entry

Only four entries into my ten video target to determine if making videos has any utility in my blogging life and I’m behind schedule. My plan was to post every other Monday.

This entry is a quick update on the status of things in my world and a continuing experiment with cameras and microphones as I search for the idea blogging setup for me.

If you like these entries let me know and subscribe in YouTube. I’m not sure why at this point though someone told me it’s important. As I understand it, if I get a million subscribers I can make some money. I think I have to take some of my clothes off though to achieve that number.

Stay safe on the road and in your dealings with the strange new world we’re traveling through now.

A quick update on the moto and pandemic happenings in my little world.

Reminder: Be Safe on Your Scooter or Motorcycle

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Accepting Risk While Riding a Scooter or Motorcycle

I’ve posted this video titled “Morning Fall” by Edward McGinty before as a reminder as the spring riding season (pandemic allowing) gets underway. It’s always seemed prudent to me to be honest about the realities of the road and the risk I’m willing to assume. What made sense last month, last year or decades ago may have no bearing on reality today. What matters now is to be safe on your scooter or motorcycle.

Every time I watch this video I’m reminder of aspects of riding I hold important — helmets and protective clothing, boots, gloves, and the haunting specter of deer on the highway. And I’m also reminded of the strategies I employ to make the most of the risks I take on.

As a video, this piece is well-produced and delivers an unexpected turn at the end. I hope you find some utility in watching.

https://vimeo.com/bossboyd/morningfall
“Morning Fall”
Cast: Zia Harris
Written & Directed by: Edward McGinty
Produced by: Suzi Yoonessi & Ben Odell
Director of Photography: Adam Silver

Be smart and be safe as you embark on your spring rides. If you’re like me you’re itching to take advantage of the restorative powers riding can bring to the table.

And if you have parked your machines until stay-at-home orders expire or you just feel comfortable on the road again during this COVID-19 pandemic, let’s all hope we can ride again soon, safe from a virus, and with the best skills and strategies to return home in one piece.

Video: Dreaming of Riding a Vespa Scooter

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Vespa GTS 250ie in the woods.
Robbed of riding by the COVID-19 pandemic, I reach for dreams of riding.

Riding a Vespa Scooter

It’s been almost a month since I’ve been riding — either the Vespa scooter or the motorcycle. I stopped for sound reasons but I have to admit the world feels a lot smaller right now. And despite the rosy rhetoric about opening up the country again, I have little faith that it will make much sense for someone like me for months to come.

I hope I’m wrong.

In the meantime I’ve been remembering and imagining rides gone by. And dreaming of rides to come. It’s a strange place to be when something so common and familiar is suddenly gone.

I’ve made another VLOG entry exploring the feelings surrounding riding a Vespa scooter. For me at least. It may be meaningless for someone else.

Video production remains an awkward dance between the equipment on hand to capture pictures and sound, the ancient computer on which I attempt to edit the video, and the ideas in my head that I struggle to give life to in the digital realm.

Here is VLOG #3.

My third attempt at a video entry. I’m struggling technically, especially with audio. But I hope I have some small measure of success in sharing a little of the thoughts, feelings and dreams of riding a Vespa scooter.

Thank You to Poet Susan Mitchell

The opening line of the video, “In my dreams, the ride goes on forever” was inspired by a poem by Susan Mitchell titled, “The Road.” In that work, she writes, “In the car’s dream, the road goes on forever”. From the moment I first read that poem that line has echoed in my mind. It was before I started to ride and has only grown more intense with each passing mile.

Thank you, Susan Mitchell. And to my wife Kim for sharing that poem with me. That gesture and others have helped move me away from being an educated barbarian…