Scooter in the Sticks

Exploring life on a Vespa, Royal Enfield Himalayan, Honda Trail 125, and a Kawasaki W650

Choose Your Own Way

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Vespa scooter on a gray day.
A pause during a ride on a gray morning in a lush world. So much rain lately. No matter how you might feel, you can choose your own way to thing about it.

A Gray World

Yesterday morning, just before venturing out on the Vespa into a gray world, I came across a quote by Viktor Frankl.

“The last of human freedoms — to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s way.”

The words stuck with me as I pushed the scooter into the driveway.

Choose your own way.

Something was bothering me. Might have been a conversation earlier in the week with Kim’s neurosurgeon, or perhaps puzzling over investment in an index fund or something more aggressive. It may have simply been the threat of rain when I wanted to ride. The idea that I could choose my attitude as I prepared to ride wouldn’t have occurred to me had I not read Frankl’s words.

By the time I was on the road things had changed. Riding didn’t change me but it did open a door, permitted a mental transformation from being awash in anxiety to sailing in a sea of gratitude. It may have been a fake, false, contrived idea in my head, but after a few miles on the Vespa, I was a different man.

I felt the familiar lust for life.

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Cruel Thing War

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Vespa GTS scooter parked along a street
Parked along the street after a short morning ride into State College, Pennsylvania.

Thoughts on a Quiet Morning

Memorial Day may come but once a year, but the sadness of loss of those who sacrificed in the wars and battles of this nation lingers. A short ride into town provided some quiet space to think about how the difficult history of the day is often forgotten as the holiday becomes consumed with celebration and distraction.

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Lust for Life

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Vespa GTS scooter along a stream
Vespa GTS scooter parked along Spring Creek in central Pennsylvania. The creek is a famed trout stream.

Spring Creek

It’s hard to know while pushing the scooter out of the garage what kind of ride it will be. Some miles from home, standing alone along the cool waters of Spring Creek, I’m content to be an observer, a wanderer, going nowhere but somewhere. Deep inside a lust for life is emerging. What’s important and energizing is becoming clear.

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Friends, Ghosts and Riding Alone

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Vespa scooter rider Andy Heckathorne
Andy Heckathorne and his Vespa scooter.

Two Vespa Scooters

Have you ever been scared during a ride? I’m not talking about the fear resulting from near collisions or sudden obstacles in the road. I’m referring to the psychic uneasiness that provides the fertile bed for scary stories and the darkness lurking within. It’s perhaps summed up best in the opening narration of the Twilight Zone:

“There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of man’s fears and the summit of his knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Twilight Zone.”

Imagination. It provides the bright, happy thoughts of rides and adventures. And it can transform a sunny day ride into something unsettled, haunted and uncomfortable.

On a ride last fall with my friend Andy Heckathorne that’s exactly what happened. You never know how things will go when you’re out riding a Vespa scooter.

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Vespa Scooter as Therapy

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Shadow of a man on concrete floor.
Emerging from winter a ghost of my riding self.

Emerging From Winter

Warm weather has me on the road again. The act of riding reminds of the Vespa scooter as therapy. Whatever darkness descended in winter lightens and vanishes like smoke in the wind as I ride along country roads. Everything looks different. Brighter. The light is dazzling. The world is flush with the fragrances of spring. The Vespa works its magic on me.

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