Scooter in the Sticks

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

Gratitude and Giving Thanks

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2006 Vespa GTS 250 scooter on a rural road.
Life along a familiar road.

Riding Through the Seasons of Life

Riding has changed my life. I still remember the joy felt when I began riding my first scooter. A sudden thrill, a soaring feeling that I was alive and free from whatever weight I carried as a responsible adult. The adventures began as daily commutes to work. Seven miles on the direct route. Fifty or more as a meandering ride through the central Pennsylvania countryside when I left before sunrise so I could still arrive at work at an acceptable time.

As I sit here writing I’m grateful that I made a decision to buy that scooter, to brave the attendant risks that collected in my head from a lifetime of motorcycle naysayers, and just forged ahead into the unknown.

Years and thousands of miles of riding adventures and daily commuting gave way to the next season of my riding life.

2006 Vespa GTS 250 on a rural road.
My Vespa in a perfect world.

Retirement Riding

Two days ago I was riding the Vespa through the valley. In part to drive the moisture from the oil and give the battery a charge as part of my “winterization” process, but also to recharge my own batteries. A ride still works its magic on me.

I thought I would ride more once I retired but it turns out daily commuting is a tough act to follow. Having a job and required to be there in person forced me out onto the road. And I loved it. Every day I rode, summer or winter, rain or shine, snow or sleet. And I am endlessly grateful for how that shaped my mind, body and spirit.

I have so much for which to be grateful from finding myself living in an area that cries out for me to explore on two wheels the the physical and financial ability to continue riding into old again.

On this national day of Thanksgiving I want to remember how grateful I am to be where I am, have the life that I do, and am able to walk (or ride) this earth.

Best wishes to each of you for a fine Thanksgiving holiday. I hope you find yourselves in a good place with a bright view of life.

Giving Thanks

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Wisp of clouds in a blue sky over a mountain top.
Looking to the sky for gratitude and Thanksgiving.

Gratitude

This is a story about riding a motorcycle and giving thanks.

It’s easy for me to overlook the good things in my life. I blame the rush and chaos of everyday living, but the truth is — giving thanks is a habit I’ve not fully developed. Just as Ebenezer Scrooge learned to keep Christmas in his heart every day of the year, so should I learn the same in regard to Thanksgiving.

I ventured out on the motorcycle on a fine, crisp November morning at 35F. Gazing into a blue sky I felt gratitude for having another day to live.

The underlying, original motivation for Thanksgiving may have been pure, but my experiences of the day growing up were one of holiday, complete with family traveling to be together, a huge meal, arguments at the table followed by football on television and grown men asleep in the living room.

There’s nothing wrong with any of that. But a fundamental ingredient was absent the day — gratitude.

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Thanksgiving Wishes

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Dog running in Boalsburg
A dog walk on a cold day.

A Walk of Thanksgiving

Walking with the dog through the neighborhood today, watching his simple pleasure being alive and running on the earth, made me think about gratitude and thanks for the simple things in life. Henry David Thoreau offered one perspective of  thanksgiving that I’d like to share with readers of Scooter in the Sticks…

“I am grateful for what I am and have. My thanksgiving is perpetual. It is surprising how contented one can be with nothing definite – only a sense of existence. Well, anything for variety. I am ready to try this for the next ten thousand years, and exhaust it. How sweet to think of! my extremities well charred, and my intellectual part too, so that there is no danger of worm or rot for a long while. My breath is sweet to me. O how I laugh when I think of my vague indefinite riches. No run on my bank can drain it, for my wealth is not possession but enjoyment.” ― Henry David Thoreau

All the best to you and yours for a fine Thanksgiving Day.

Steve Williams