Scooter in the Sticks

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

Season’s Greetings from the Sticks

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It’s Christmas Eve and time for me to extend best wishes for Christmas, the holiday season and the coming new year. At 2am this morning I was out in the driveway fighting with Christmas lights, camera and a bad idea to make a picture that would represent my feelings of riding and the holiday season. For the past couple years the safe bet was a picture of the Vespa hauling home the tree but Kim and I made an impulse buy one evening a few weeks ago at a local Christmas tree vendor. So no tree to haul on the scooter. For those of you who just have to see the tree on the back of the Vespa check the bottom of this post for one of the classic pictures.

The holidays always seem to become hectic despite the best planning. Providence intervened this year to bring a bit of needed solitude to the house in the form of an impending ice storm. We canceled our traditional Christmas Eve party this year when nearly everyone who planned to attend was now departing town early to avoid the weather on Christmas Day. So I can sit here now and type and reflect on the season and it’s meaning. Junior is laying at my feet gnawing on a marrow bone while Kim sits in the living room illuminated by the Christmas tree. Life is good and there is much to be grateful for.

After giving up trying to produce the picture in my head for my holiday greeting I put the lights, tripod and camera away. Could not seem to push the Vespa back into the garage though and decided to go for a ride. The night sky was clear and the temperature was a relatively comfortable 20F. Riding at night always is nice especially when there is snow on the ground and Christmas lights on. Though not so many as the clock ticks near 3am. In Boalsburg there were lights glowing on Main Street and I took a little time to wander around and shoot a few pictures. While it seemed nostalgic to me I’m now sure how a passing police cruiser would view me. Faith in the power of the Christmas spirit kept me going.

I hope these words find each of you with a quiet heart and a smile on your lips. For a day the cares of the world can slip away and the power of the season can renew us. For any of you who receive a new scooter or motorcycle, well, I don’t want to hear about it……*grin*

All the best for a Merry Christmas and bright holiday season!

Oh, one of the classic Vespa Christmas tree pictures.

Cold Weather Insanity

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I was having breakfast at the Corner Room (best breakfast in town in my opinion) in State College, Pennsylvania this morning with my friend Howard when I saw a young man go by on a scooter. A Honda Metropolitan I think. As I watched my bacon affected brain slowly began to turn and I grabbed my iPhone to make a picture as he passed. As I touched the shutter release I thought, “This guy is insane.”

I have done my share of cold weather riding but I am positively a wuss in comparison to this fellow. It’s 15 degrees Fahrenheit outside and he has almost not protection. Nothing on his head but a stylish cap. No windproof riding jacket. And most startling to me — no gloves. Bare hands out in the wind.

After he went by I felt ashamed that I didn’t ride to work today. My excuse — I would have too much gear on to deal with in the Corner Room. Oh well, one man insane and the next a wussy…

Giving Thanks

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If “thank you” is the only prayer you say, that will be enough.–Meister Eckhart

With Junior sleeping at my feet, the house quiet and no requirement to go to work today it’s easy to recall all the things I have to be thankful for. On those days not dedicated to giving thanks I find similar quiet moments while riding – small escapes from the chaos and noise that can fill the days when chasing chores and job and the responsibilities of living.

Riding the Vespa on winding roads past small, tree lined streams provides an opening to stop and release mental burdens and grasp the simple elegance of sight, sound and smell. I am often reminded of how fortunate I am to have what I have and do what I do.

These past weeks circumstance has kept me from riding as much as I would have liked. Writing, photography and riding have been supplanted with dog walks and training, new responsibilities at work, and a shrinking of daylight has led to fewer opportunities to ride forth into the landscape. When I finally did have a chance to take the Vespa for a ride I found myself stopping often and just standing along the road, taking in the world and saying to myself, “thank you”.

After years of dabbling in various forms of meditation and escape I would not have believed a scooter would be able to open the doors of perception that my Vespa has accomplished. In the most stressful and complicated moments it remains a powerful antidote and requires only moments to straighten out my head. Riding is a gift. The Vespa is the delivery vehicle.

I’ve been able to ride to work for most of the past week. Small detours in the commuting route seem inevitable, something I never do in the truck. Whatever I surrender in terms of creature comfort on the Vespa is repaid tenfold in other ways. I never find myself walking into my office saying “I wish I had driven the truck today”. Not even on the coldest days.

I live miles away to the right of the picture. I work miles away to the left. Standing in the open I can see how my life unfolds in a back and forth manner, commuting to and from home to work and back again. I’m not sure why but it is important for me to see this. It is invisible in the truck. There are only filtered views from the cage.

To all of you today — I hope you find the time to consider your own reasons to give thanks.

No More iPhone Pictures

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My daughter Hannah says my iPhone pix are not so good. I’m not ready to abandon it yet.


Gordon patiently modeled for yet another camera picture.

I am working on a real post with real pictures for all the purists…

— Posted from my iPhone

iPhone Vespa: 3 Prints Project

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I have a lot of film to process. Chemicals in the darkroom have gone bad and need to be remixed. But still I make sluggish progress. The Vespa makes it to Saint’s Cafe on another crisp Sunday morning to bemoan my indolence with Gordon.


Magic tea with my everything bagel surely will re-energize my creative world.

Shooting with the iPhone is a bit liberating—I don’t care about much photographically with it. It’s like being a kid again. A kid with a Vespa…

— Posted from my iPhone

Scooter in the Sticks

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

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