Scooter in the Sticks

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

Singular Focus While Riding a Motorcycle

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a chocolate chip cookie
A talisman of singular focus.

Chocolate Chip Cookie

How is it that a chocolate chip cookie is so important to me?

Is it really a talisman of some mindful focus on the present moment? Or merely a reflection of a lifelong addiction to sugar?

I choose to believe the cookie’s oversized importance points to something greater than sugar. A magical draw toward the present. A jumping-off point where I abandon the past and the future and exist now.

Of course, all of this may be a delusion brought on by a rhinovirus that woke me at midnight after hours of sleep, my body sluggish but my mind racing.

Still, there’s something to my singular focus on a cookie.

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Meditation Fuel

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chocolate chip cookies and teaGazing Out a Window

My living room, before the great window.

The heat from the tea penetrates the heavy ceramic mug and into my hands. Steam floats before my face as I gaze out the window, thinking about nothing, feeling everything, and then my concentration breaks for an instant as I’m reminded of the cookies.

I can’t count the number of places I’ve sat gazing out windows with a cup of tea in my hand while allowing imagination to run wild for a time before reining it in to a focused meditation. Many scooter and motorcycle rides lead to such a place as have walks and journeys by cars and planes. As much as I want to say I have some calling to introspection, it’s the cookie that brings me back, over and over again, to a quiet place where a conversation with life is possible. The cookie – meditation fuel.

Heart of the Matter

Post-heart attack I wondered if all snacks and comfort food would by necessity vanish from life as a hard, plain diet slowly strangled me. Perusing nutritional information on packages of sweet, chocolate goodness yielded the same message – “No snacks for you!”.

And then, unexpected, appeared Chips Ahoy Chunky Chocolate Chunk Cookies. Dry, hard, crunchy cookies with fat content lower than their compatriots, a package of reasonable fat and carbohydrate matrices that I could live with – literally – by my estimation.

The cookie is a talisman, a reminder of life lived simply. My focus with the Vespa follows that path. Surely the same is possible with a snack. There’s no need to eat the entire package, half or even a quarter. The path begins at three small round morsels imbued with the sweetness of life and ends with one solitary cookie – the grail at the end of a quest where body and mind meet in recognition that where cookies are concerned – less is more.

Problems with this ritual? What if I need to meditate twice in one day? How much fuel do I need?

Second Chance

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I’m thankful for a second chance.

Vespa GTS scooter at nightRiding Appreciation

One of the first things I thought about after my heart attack was whether I could ride again.  I worried about my wife and kids, the dogs, friends, work and all the things that make up a life.  In regard to riding I was worried about myself.  Riding the Vespa is not a hobby or recreational outlet.  It’s a critical aspect of maintaining sanity in a crazy world.

I get irritable if I don’t find road time with the scooter.  If pressed, I consider it a spiritual act.  I’m thankful that I have a second chance.

Braved the cold this evening for a Vespa ride to see the new Triumph Bonneville Street Twin motorcycle. Kissell Motorsports, Purple Lizard Maps and Rothrock Coffee sponsored the event.  All I had to do was show up.

Triumph Bonneville Street Twin motorcycleGrowing Gratitude

Watching a father and son (I assume) looking at the bike I thought about how fortunate I am to be standing here witnessing everything going on around me.  I started thinking of all the things I have to be grateful for.

Carolina wrens were singing as I walked through the snow with Junior and Lily in the morning.  It’s a privilege to listen to such fine song.  Having two fine canine companions is a gift.  Being able to walk is a joy.  Looking around at my life I have so much to be thankful for that it’s easy to neglect things — big and small.

My wife Kim continues to shine a light on paths I would not otherwise know.  Friend and family enrich the trip just by being themselves.  I have a roof over my head.  Hell, there are chocolate chip cookies in the cupboard right now.

Waiting.

Infant graddaughter

Who Are You?

My infant granddaughter promises challenge, excitement and joy.  I’m already planning her riding safety training.  Her mother just laughed.

The night draws to a close and I feel my body leaning toward temporary oblivion.  And as the last thoughts fade, surely one of those thoughts will acknowledge the gratitude I feel for the life I’ve been given.