thoughts Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Scooter in the Sticks

Train of Thought

August 31, 2015 by Scooter in the Sticks 11 Comments

One of the most delightful aspects of riding is being alone with your thoughts. It’s curious how many problems can be unraveled while wandering down the road. A train of thought can be clear, direct and arrive at its destination quickly, or it can be a meandering slog up mountainsides and through jungles. These adventures are why I don’t listen to music while riding and generally choose to ride alone.

But even when riding with others, unless you’re using a two-way communication device, your thoughts are free to wander.

This past Saturday evening I received a text: “Call Paul”. A few minutes later it was decided we would head out of town for breakfast. The next morning the Vespa was ready to go.

The landscape is changing as fall approaches. The air is cool in the morning and a mix of fog and hazy hangs in the valley. Traffic is light as we near Warriors Mark, Pennsylvania. Paul polices the litter — an empty Newport cigarette pack on the road.

Our breakfast destination was Tom and Joes’ Diner, an Altoona, Pennsylvania tradition operating since 1933. As I stood looking toward the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament which rises over the city my train of thought raced back to the railroad heydays when the Pennsylvania Railroad ruled the world as the largest railroad in the country and at one time having an operating budget larger than the United States government.

For a moment I felt a twang of nostalgia for those smoking, hulking locomotives I remember from childhood.

The inside of Tom and Joes was packed with people – so many faces and bodies that you end up not seeing anyone. Case in point. My Vespa riding father-in-law was two booths away, something we determined on the phone later that day.

Forty-four years ago I began traveling through Altoona on my way to college — a long trip from Pittsburgh to State College. There wasn’t a lot between those locations except for Altoona. It was a lively, bustling city then. Now the hustle and bustle seems to have moved out to the shopping malls outside of town.

I’m not the only one following a train of thought. Paul is always on the lookout for the right old car. It’s as if some small part of his brain is always focused on the goal. We stopped so he could inspect this rusty old Cadillac. The kind of unique automobile that a place like Altoona might have available.

The railroad still is invested in Altoona though perhaps not at the same level as when the Pennsylvania Railroad employed over 250,ooo people at its height. The repair shops are still impressive even though they’re but a shadow of their former glory. And it’s Norfolk Southern today.

A few miles down the road at DelGrosso Park Paul and I parted ways as he stopped to see the foreign car show. My path led toward home.

The roads here are as varied as my train of thought. It’s nice to be able to choose from a series of routes to get to the same place. With mind still wandering and all roads leading home it was a fine way to end a Sunday morning ride.

Alone.

And with my thoughts.

Riding Before Sunrise

August 11, 2015 by Scooter in the Sticks 24 Comments

Fuel stop at a local Exxon station to prepare the Vespa for a trip to breakfast some 50 miles away. Riding before sunrise is a quiet experience. The world is asleep and the roads clear — a perfect time to ride.

My friend Paul Ruby wants to visit Mamie’s in Martinsburg, Pennsylvania, a small eating establishment with a hearty breakfast and baked goods selection. Probably not the best choice for my post-heart attack diet but I can indulge every now and again.

Paul and I have made this trip before. Each time it’s a different experience.

As 6am arrived the sun hadn’t breached the horizon leaving the world in that pre-dawn glow I love so well. For a moment I thought how easy it would be to just ride south, across the Mason-Dixon line into Maryland and on into Virginia toward Front Royal. Just a short ride from there onto the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Not sure why that came into my head but for a period of time I was doing the time calculations to get there and home before dinner.

Sunrise offers a strong lesson in the machinations of the earth as it turns on its axis. I’m always surprised at the speed of the change from dawn to sunrise and on into morning. Standing in a bean field I feel blessed to bear witness to the magic.

There are miles of fine roads and riding before breakfast. As I notice views in my rear view mirror I stop and command Paul to turn around and become a model. While making this photo I sense the first gurgling of desire in my gut — time for breakfast.

Arriving early meant we could park right in front of Mamie’s Cafe. Being quite hungry as I write this post I’m not going to dwell on breakfast save for it was good, it was a vegetable omelet, and it was big.

I also bought a fresh doughnut but only had a couple bites. It felt like trouble.

One the way home we found a narrow road wandering up and over a mountain. One of the things I love best on a ride if finding a new path to a familiar destination. The view was unexpected but appreciated.

You can see Raystown Lake in the distance.

Far from the drought consuming the western parts of the United States, central Pennsylvania is lush with corn, soybeans and alfalfa hay in fine shape. Our machines are simple trespassers in a pastoral scene.

While no big sky in terms or what you might see in Montana this is perhaps as good as it gets in the ridge and valley region of Pennsylvania. Looking down roads that lead away toward the horizon triggers desires to keep riding and exploring to see what’s over the next hill.

But all rides come to an end — but not without generating some pleasant memories to call up during some darker day…

Dark Shadows

July 16, 2015 by Scooter in the Sticks 6 Comments

This post is not about the television show or movie named Dark Shadows. The old TV show does inform some of my “darker” thoughts though..

It’s not often that I ride through an area that feels creepy, as if something bad has happened, spirits lingering with malevolent intent. I don’t believe in ghosts but there are times when the complex chemical workings of my body and mind get the best of me.

On the morning I made this photograph I could feel my skin prickling. My hand was in my pocket on my phone wondering how quickly I could dial 911, wondering if there was any cell coverage.

In the darkness just off the road sat Camp Antler, an old hunting camp that could serve as a cinematic location for another episode in the Hannibal Lecter series. Or perhaps one of the woodsman’s cabins on the grounds of Collingwood. Kim and I had been discussing one of the local missing person cases where the person just vanished. My mind was telling me they would find them here. Or someone else.

The phone wasn’t needed and as quickly as the feeling surfaced it faded when the Vespa entered the sunshine a few miles up the road. Faded, but not forgotten.

The weather seemed odd for a couple days. The clouds conspired to force uncomfortable thoughts about life and death. I swore I could feel the blood pumping past the drug eluting stent near my heart. Looking up I couldn’t tell if the clouds were closing in our the sky was opening up. That unsettled feeling stuck with me for days despite engaging the Vespa riding prescription for ailments of the heart and mind.

More than once on the way to work the world seemed empty. I wondered if the earth was passing through some strange electromagnetic field that triggered my hypothalamus to secrete odd hormones that were affecting my imagination powers.

Walking through our garden at dusk often triggers thoughts of spirits and creatures etched carefully by books, movies and television shows. I would not be surprised to see Barnabas Collins as I passed by this old garden angel.

In the parking lot at the hospital I found safety with the herd — in this instance parked next to a Triumph Tiger motorcycle. I was early for cardiac rehab and there were few people around. Surely the vampires were back in their coffins and the werewolves were asleep in the fields and forests. And in minutes the dark shadows departed. Perhaps 21 minutes on an elliptical trainer is the antidote for an imagination run amok. Or a serious Alpine pass program on an exercise bike. Or maybe I just grew tired of the mental exercising that often takes place when I’m thinking about things.

When I came out 90 minutes later the sun was shining and the world was a pleasant place.

But I miss the drama…

Sheltering from Rain

June 17, 2015 by Scooter in the Sticks 15 Comments

For the first time ever I parked beneath an overpass to wait out a passing rainstorm. I’ve seen other riders huddled under bridges or at gas stations to avoid the rain but I’ve always ridden on. To be fair, part of the motivation for waiting was I did not want to get the new BMW R nineT wet so it would remain reasonably pristine for photos. But the bigger issue driving the need to be sheltering from rain was lack of preparation.

Normally when I ride I have rain gear with me. On this machine there was no place for gear, tools, or anything else that would not fit in my pockets. There’s another reason though why I’ve never sought shelter from the rain — I’ve never really been caught in a dangerous downpour.

The next day I was in the van when a dangerous downpour presented itself. Like sheltering from rain the previous day I was close to pulling off the road for the first time because I could not see the road ahead and pools of water were forming on the road surface that made hydroplaning a real possibility. Again, like with previous rides, driving and riding through rain wasn’t a reflection of fortitude or courage on my part, I just had not faced a serious weather event that required a decision to be sheltering from rain.

I have to say there was an unexpected payoff to pulling off the road to wait aside from the selfie I made while sitting in the dirt. The sudden, forced isolation coupled with no knowledge of how long it would last was sobering — a lesson in loss of control. When I ride I kid myself that I am in control when the reality is that I am at the mercy of other drivers, weather and fate. I merely have limited control over myself and my machine.

Sitting along the road in riding purgatory offers an opportunity to experience some rather intense isolation. Or perhaps separation from the world is more precise. Either way you’re left with your thoughts as you sit on the earth. With a smart phone in your pocket it would be easy to medicate any uncomfortable feelings of being alone with the myriad tools for escape it provides and I did indulge with radar maps from Weather.com and a few pictures posted to Instagram. But I did recognize the opportunity to experiment with my reaction to sudden isolation.

Boredom, anxiety, and a desire to have control were all mixed together leaving me feeling oddly unsettled. I like to think riding is a meditative process but while I sat watching the rain and wondering when I would get my life back I wondered if riding wasn’t more escape than meditation.

By the time the BMW roared back to life I had found a calm place, one that was accepting of whatever would come along. But even that was probably an illusion since I had to only wait an hour, the air was warm, there was no pressing need to be anywhere and I wasn’t hungry. A few changes in circumstance would challenge the calm.

I have to think having a ride interrupted by weather is uncommon since so many riders are fair weather adventurers. But some of you that ride into the abyss surely have found yourselves sitting and waiting.

What did you find waiting for you?

Experiencing the World

September 27, 2014 by Scooter in the Sticks 6 Comments

A crisp fall morning, dew clinging heavily to soybean pods as sunlight works to burn away morning fog, these are the things that kindle the desire to be riding into a new day. The journey from bed to the road isn’t always easy; the desire to sink into bed just a bit deeper, a while longer is strong. Following my disposition I would probably never see a sunrise or experience the mysteries of dawn. This morning I had chores to do but was glad to be out on the road to be experiencing the world.

Writer Joyce Carol Oates has commented on the concealed benefits of chores:

As a farm girl, even when I was quite young, I had my ‘farm chores’ – but I had time also to be alone, to explore the fields, woods and creek side. And to read.

I have to agree — riding my Vespa to do chores and errands almost always provides those things.

A longer than normal walk with an insistent dog got me on the road later that I would have liked. The sun had already burned off the heavier fog that can completely shroud this area. It did not diminish the quiet though to be alone with my thoughts and explore the place where I live.

Autumn is screaming. Farmers are chopping corn and the leaves have already dropped from the ash trees next to my house. Before long there will be snowflakes in the air. Still, it’s worth stopping and looking around. I remember the first time I make a photograph of this particular field nearly twenty years ago and it still holds the same visual attraction. I’ve parked the Vespa here many times so I could walk around and wonder what I’m seeing.

Opportunities to explore and make photographs were hampered this morning by the influx of traffic into the valley for Penn State’s homecoming football game. I didn’t want to cope with the tens of thousands of vehicles that fill the roads and streets during the run up to the game so I put the camera away and turned towards State College, Pennsylvania to take care of a few errands.

Had to stop to make one last picture before heading into the gauntlet of football traffic and hopes of a loaf of Gemelli’s french country bread. No luck on that score then on to Wiscoy for Animals for a back of bird food and on home to relax. It’s dark now but the effects of the ride linger. Can’t wait for the morning and one more chance to move through the world…

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