Scooter in the Sticks

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

Special Memory from 2016

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Steve Williams, Vespa rider

Photo by Gordon Harkins

What Do I Remember?

A blogging challenge has me thinking about a special memory from 2016.

Sorting and categorizing memories is tricky business.  What’s special one day if forgotten the next.  The scary, awful stuff seems to forever float near the surface of consciousness while the fun stuff takes work to recall.  This in part fuels both my journaling and photography — an action focused on building and retaining memory.

Riding and Recall

The rides have started to blur together making it difficult to choose one single ride as special.  There’s a subtle pressure to narrow a choice to family and loved ones as if there is a hierarchy of importance when it comes to memory.  I’ve accepted there’s no accounting for what my mind chooses to remember.  When I ride the Vespa scooter the world slips away leaving an open expanse to think and recall memories.  At least when I’m not thinking of the future.

The future — that has something to do with the most special memory of 2016.

It’s a memory about something that won’t happen for another 148 days — retirement.  Or more precisely, the special memory is a recollection of the jumbled thoughts and feelings related to my decision to accept a buyout offer for early retirement.  As early as nearly 44 years of employment can be.

foggy country roadThe Thrill of the Uncertain Road Ahead

The days leading up to to the deadline to accept or reject the retirement buyout offer were painted with dreams of adventure and stained with anxious misgiving of letting go of something that has been a steady beat my entire adult life.  I reflected on those concerns in a post titled Retirement: A New Adventure.

While many exciting and delightful things have happened in 2016, those days in September stand out as unique, strange, and special.

2017 Brave, Bold Blogger Challenge

This post is part of a month long writing prompt challenge conceived by Kathy at Toadmama.com.

Pass Through Time

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Vespa GTS scooter on country roadThe Road Ahead

Autumn amplifies my recognition of the passing of time.  It’s more than the visual recognition of leaves changing color and falling to the ground.  It’s a deeper connection to the cycle of life.

I’ve been taking little rides for the past couple months, in part because of the limitations of a slowly healing lower back, and partly because I just don’t have time to ride.  Despite all that, riding in autumn is a lovely experience, heady with the fragrance of drying leaves, lovely for eyes filled with the glowing warmth of light and leaf, and all packaged with the label, “Pass Through Time”.

On the scooter or on foot, the road ahead is taking me somewhere new and I’m loving the ride.

autumn leaves in a forestAutumn Leaves

I’m lucky to live in the heart of Pennsylvania’s hardwood forest and the canvas of color it creates this time of year.  The leaf-peeping season doesn’t last long but oh what a show.

Vespa GTS scooterRiding a Vespa

A BMW R1200 GS passed me today on the way home from work.  The yellow version from 2007 or so.  I covet that machine from time to time along with a short list of other motorcycles.  But none (yet) have the addictive and overwhelming good feeling of my Vespa GTS scooter.  It’s perfect in many ways and good enough in others.

Will the spell break at some point and allow something different in the garage?

Riding a Vespa, a modern four-stroke version, is just plain magic.

Really.

And I’m not getting paid to say this…

Autumn leavesThe Lure of the Canvas

Along with many other things on a list of “before I die” activities is painting.  Acrylic on canvas.  I want to try my hand as a painter.  Seeing the autumn leaves and the wonderful landscapes of the season triggers the desire.  Perhaps something to do in retirement.

Funny thing about the list, a bucket list I suppose, is there’s really nothing on it pertaining to riding.

What’s that mean?

Vespa GTS scooterRiding to Work

Stopped on the way to work one morning last week to stretch my back that was starting to cramp. Striking a yoga pose while simultaneously grumbling and cursing might create an odd mix for anyone passing by.  Despite the need to sometimes stop I’m grateful to be riding to work.  Every commute is an adventure.  Every adventure is a reminder of the damn great life I have.  Even is it’s just to pass through time.

You experience the nicest thoughts when you’re a rider.

Retirement: A New Adventure

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foggy country roadWhat’s Ahead on the Road?

A foggy ride to work this week and I’m wondering what’s ahead on the road just beyond what I can see.  And I’m wondering the same thing about my life.  My employer, Penn State, is offering an incentive for myself and over 1200 of my colleagues to retire.  After a career spanning over 42 years it opens the door for a new adventure.

I guess.

Even though I ride my Vespa in fog and snow I’m not a person who takes risks.  Retirement feels like a big one.  And I don’t really know why other than it brings a dramatic change to a life built on routine and ritual.

Vespa scooters with motorcyclesLife on Campus

I’ve been parking a Vespa on campus for over ten years.  A lot longer for a cars.  As I looked at the scooter parked outside my office I can’t help but wonder what all these years meant.  Retirement means walking away and not coming back.  Like saying goodbye to an old, familiar friend and knowing it will never be the same.

The financial calculations are complete.  And I have some pretty serious plans for life after Penn State that will keep me busy with things I want to do.  But I hesitate.

I’ll be going for a long ride in the morning to think about the offer and make a decision.  I have six days to sign a letter of intent if I want to take advantage of the incentive offer.  Or keep working and retire down the road.  If I decide to sign the paper there’s no turning back.  At the end of June 2017 I would be a full-time Vespa rider.

Retirement.  That would be a new adventure.