Today was my first motorcycle ride of the year. Usually I get out before now but it just didn't happen. I tried to get out yesterday but the rain had other plans.
After completing my pre-ride checks (blinkers, brake lights, tire pressure etc) and prayer for safety (something I always do after being rear-ended last year) I was off. I started by going up by Crystal Lake and then just worked my way through the country roads of Tolland. I had forgotten how much I love to ride. Taking the right of the main drag onto a side road became a transition, not just a turn. There I was, just me, the bike and the road. I love cruising through the country roads. We are fortunate enough to live in the country with plenty of trees, so imagine riding through a tunnel of lush leaves painted by the Creator with every shade of green all attached to strong branches that merge into towering trunks. There is something therapeutic about riding through these roads on a motorcycle. Without all the extra space of a car, you become one with the bike as you lean with every turn of the road. However, my favorite part of riding the country roads isn't something you can see, just feel. The air in those green tunnels is different, it is substantially cooler and it feels wonderful as you ride through it, almost like an invisible cloud. You really have to try it sometime!
My plan was just to ride and explore and possibly get lost if my internal GPS allowed it. I came to a fork in the road and neither side was paved...not such a good thing on a motorcycle. I grew up riding dirtbikes which are made for this, riding a street bike on loose gravel is like trying to maintain your balance on marbles... certainly doable but not preferable. It made me think of that poem we learned in high school, "two road diverged in a yellow wood" I believe it's "The Road Not Taken" by Robert Frost. As I made my loop to head towards home I passed a local farm veterinarian office I had forgotten even existed. He owns a small heard of cattle but these just aren't any cattle, they are what we refer to as "Oreo Cows." Their genetic blueprint determines black for the front and rear thirds separated by a milky white midsection. So I stopped and snapped a few pictures with my iPhone, I really need to get a new camera after my faithful one died last summer.
Something I did notice on my ride was houses. There are many different styles, colors, layouts, landscaping (or lake thereof) and it got me thinking about the kind of house I want someday - not sure yet, but I've got plenty of time. The sad part about the houses were how many For Sale signs I saw. It's a sign the nation isn't out of the woods yet for the financial difficulties. I home people can keep their homes, but I certainly hope everyone learns to buy houses (or anything) they can afford, not what they can buy with credit.
I made it home, put the bike away, thanked God for the safe journey and checked out my pictures and started writing.
By the way, here's a picture of gate, I just like how it turned out with the fly on the top rail.
