Summertime Thoughts
June 30, 2020
The other day we had to go food shopping and to spruce up the occasion I took the scooter while Linda took her car. What sort of makes it an authentic ride together for us is that her car is a Honda. To get to the supermarket we have to take the Taconic State Parkway. The Parkway was built in the 1930s and follows the contour of the land as opposed to the bulldozed flat nature of too many roads built after it. I enjoy the hills and wide sweeping curves as we make our way to Shoprite so the task to follow isn't so bad. Even while shopping I have a good ride to look forward to after pushing a shopping cart around the store. It beats sitting in the car and the run home is always a good time.
Recently I indulged in what has been a growing activity, the Birthday Drive By. A young man in a nearby town was celebrating his seventh birthday after his Father passed away in February. A family friend thought a motorcycle procession passing by the house on his birthday would help him feel better. I saddled up the Honda Nighthawk and made my way to the meetup point. I always feel like an intruder at these events when I park my 250cc bike among the giant Harleys, Indians and Victory motorcycles. My 330 pound, fifteen cubic inch motored bike is a puppy in a field of bulls. I always manage to keep pace but I know that people are looking at me thinking, "When are you going to buy a real motorcycle.
The trip to the young man's house only took about five minutes and as we rode by he waved and smiled. Some people handed him gifts while the rest of us honked and revved our engines. I saw a video on Facebook later and he was even more excited than I saw when I went by. It was nice to be a part of his day and hopefully it made the it much better for him.
The ride home was extremely pleasing and had enough curves to keep my attention. I didn't get a chance to do Ride Your Bike to Work Day but this event made up for it.
I have to report some sad news though. over the last few months my Mom has been fading and her cognition has become sketchy. We saw her in February and she was fine but since then she has slipped. It's been slightly more than a year since my Dad passed away and she never regained her spirit from that. It's sad since two years ago they were both having an active social life and were never at home. The end comes for all of us and it's sad to see some people go so quickly.
Recently I indulged in what has been a growing activity, the Birthday Drive By. A young man in a nearby town was celebrating his seventh birthday after his Father passed away in February. A family friend thought a motorcycle procession passing by the house on his birthday would help him feel better. I saddled up the Honda Nighthawk and made my way to the meetup point. I always feel like an intruder at these events when I park my 250cc bike among the giant Harleys, Indians and Victory motorcycles. My 330 pound, fifteen cubic inch motored bike is a puppy in a field of bulls. I always manage to keep pace but I know that people are looking at me thinking, "When are you going to buy a real motorcycle.
The trip to the young man's house only took about five minutes and as we rode by he waved and smiled. Some people handed him gifts while the rest of us honked and revved our engines. I saw a video on Facebook later and he was even more excited than I saw when I went by. It was nice to be a part of his day and hopefully it made the it much better for him.
The ride home was extremely pleasing and had enough curves to keep my attention. I didn't get a chance to do Ride Your Bike to Work Day but this event made up for it.
I have to report some sad news though. over the last few months my Mom has been fading and her cognition has become sketchy. We saw her in February and she was fine but since then she has slipped. It's been slightly more than a year since my Dad passed away and she never regained her spirit from that. It's sad since two years ago they were both having an active social life and were never at home. The end comes for all of us and it's sad to see some people go so quickly.
Posted by Jim Zeiser.
If you wish to comment my e-mail address is h1500e@hotmail.com. I'd like to hear anything-good or bad-that anyone would like to say. As they said in college, we're all lifelong learners.
