Notes from the Road

One of the great things about riding a motorbike is that you’re fully immersed in the environment in which you’re riding. If it’s cold outside, you’re cold. If it’s rainy outside, you’re wet. And if the lilacs are in bloom, you smell lilacs.They say nothing triggers memories more acutely than scent.

On a motorbike I’m constantly treated — or cursed — with the smells of my surroundings. Most of the time these are unremarkable, but sometimes a passing wave of scents catches me by surprise.Today it was the scent of summer camp. That damp, musty-musky scent of an evergreen forest by a lake. The scent of pine and spruce and hemlock — season upon season of their fallen needles forming the rich, damp humus of the woodland floor. The sent of the docks and canoes and sailboats, where the whiff of varnish and musty, horse-collar life vests and a slight fishy scent replaces the woodier smells of the forest. The scent of canvas camp mattresses in plywood-clad cabins. The sent of the mess hall where the slight odor of chocolate milk in half-pint cardboard boxes mixes with peanut butter and sweaty 10-year-olds huddled together at generations old wooden tables and benches.

For a moment it was 1970 and I was back at the YMCA camp on Naticook Lake. For a moment I was young and innocent and full of excitement, a little nervous and a little homesick.

Then, all too soon, the road dipped left and away from the unseen camp. The scents quickly faded and then were gone, leaving we with a reflective melancholy.

The plans for Newfoundland continue to unfold. Like carving a sculpture from a block of stone, all the big chunks have been removed and we’re now down to the details.

One of those details, several really, is what to pack and where. I’ll be taking the Triumph Tiger. Unfortunately, unlike the BMW I had a couple of years ago, the Triumph doesn’t have a tail rack or any luggage — hard cases for storage. Fortunately, Twisted Throttle was more than willing to take a chunk of dough in exchange for several chunks of metal, bolts and plastic.

Twisted Throttle turned around my order unexpectedly quickly. I placed the order online on a Sunday, and by Tuesday afternoon I had two large boxes sitting in my garage. This is noteworthy in and of itself, but when you consider all the stuff I needed for mounting the luggage is bike-specific it’s even more impressive.

???????? ????? ????????office furniture in BulgariaAfter a few hours, and with surprisingly little profanity, here’s what they look like…

“And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I have a dream today!”
……

“And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual:

Free at last! Free at last!

Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

Martin Luther King, Jr.

We have come so far. We have so very far to go.

 You know, I don’t mean to be a complainer, but I’m just getting sick of winter. Last week I picked up my Kawasaki KLR650 from repair/storage and had a nice little ride. Three days later temps were in the 50ºF range — quite nice for a little spin on two wheels. But last Friday… oh last Friday, Mother Nature was just being a jerk. The temperature dropped and so did the snow. A solid 5 inches of heavy wet snow. And it persisted throughout the weekend. Even as the wind picked up and the sun shone brightly, the snow clung to the trees like marshmallow fluff sprayed from snow canons.

The shady back roads are once again clogged and narrowed. Even if it warms up over the next few days, my street is so crusted with packed snow, ice and sand, that I won’t be able to bring the bikes out. It’s maddening. Because if I could only get off my street — a mere half mile — it would be smooth riding. But I’m trapped. Fenced in by this wintry moat of impassibility.

Still, it’s pretty to look at.

Roadside Church Somewhere in Quebec

No, I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth. Nor have I been in a coma. I have, however, been in a funk of sorts, preoccupied with the relentless winter weather that shows little sign of abating.

One of my motorcycles has been in the shop since last November, and I was supposed to pick it up a couple of weeks ago. Yeah, right. Usually this time of year I expect to have cold riding weather and maybe even have the odd snow squall or two. But not this year.

This year we’ve been hit by one winter storm after the other; once, sometimes twice, a week. And if it isn’t the snow it’s the icy patches on the tree-shaded back roads where the low angled, weak winter sun is as useless as a paper match in a meat locker. Here, on these semi-paved, frost heaved back roads in my corner of New Hampshire, I think a dog sled would be more useful than a motorcycle this March.

Anyway, I’ll try again this weekend. Looks like there might be a window of opportunity between 3:00 and 3:07 PM on Friday where the clouds may part and the mercury may rise and I may be able to get my KLR650 back into the stable. blackjack softwareroulette casino game,roulette game,online roulette gamefree video pokercasino link online suggestfree triple play video pokercasino gamescasino en language onlinefree casino game downloadcasino cash bonus,casino cash,free online casino cashhow to win at blackjackfree online casino craps,free online casino game craps,online crapsbonus sans depot casino770jeux de casino en flashle baccaratjeu casino onlinejeux roulette russecasino en ligneswww casino do comcasino euro comjeux casino 770play free baccarat onlineroulette gratuitesall slots casinotélécharger jeux casinosliste jeux casinoblack jack casinofree crapsgame blackjackmeilleurs jeux de casinojeu casino en lignejeu au casinole supermarché casino en lignecasino gratuites a telechargerjeu de video poker gratuitescasino tropez comjouer au casino,jouer au poker au casino,jouer au casino gratuitementjeux de casino gratuibonus casino tropezplay blackjack onlinewww banque casino,www casino,www casino gratuitesgamme com jeucasino online gratuitesfree black jackwww jeu de casinotelecharger video pokercasino barriere gratuitesjeu jack black en lignejack black king kongjeu de casino virtuel,meilleur casino virtuel,casino virtueltelechargement gratuites casino

In case you haven’t noticed, I’m finding it hard to write every day. I’m continually preoccupied with other things, like setting up a new home office, or trying to learn Adobe Photoshop and Lightroom techniques, or helping kids with their homework…

Here’s a shot of my wife’s first cousin, twice removed. That would be my wife’s cousin’s, daughter’s, son. Yeah, that’s it. His name is Travis.

I’m trying to do something more with the snapshots I’ve taken. Trying to pull something artistic from the merely mundane. Here, I’m using a split-toning technique to create a monochrome image. What started as just another birthday party snapshot turned out to be a nice  candid portrait — if I do say so myself.

WARNING: Topical, political content.

Americans have consistently over-extended themselves; spending beyond their means. It’s all been fun and games, but lately that sort of behavior has resulted in a lot of foreclosures and other nastiness…. like consumer thrift, and living within one’s means.

Well it turns out that responsible consumer spending makes the economic numbers look bad. I guess that means being financially responsible hurts the economy… or corporate share holders. I’m not sure exactly what, but I’m told it’s unpatriotic to not buy, buy, buy.

So anyway, the brainiacs known as US politicians have decided the best way to solve this problem of non-over-indulgence is to give everybody — well, everybody but the truly needy — free money! Yeah!

Even though my government is more than $9,000,000,000,000 in debt already, the people running the joint decided everyone (again, save the needy) should get a $600 check courtesy of Uncle Sam. Oh what the heck. Throw in another $300 for each kid to boot. Now if that’s not setting the right example for John and Jane Doe, I don’t know what is.

If I understand it correctly, the idea is that Americans will take their free money, hop in their leased SUVs, head down to their local Buy More and buy a new digital TV, or something. This would be a good thing, I’m told.

An irresponsible, unpatriotic thing to do would be to, I don’t know, pay down your debt or put your free money in the bank. Yeah, I don’t know how buying a Japanese designed, Chinese manufactured, TV helps the economy either, but what do I know. Just do it.

As for me, I’m gonna hold on to my free money and spend it all in Canada before the US dollar loses even more value. Whatever’s left over after beer and petrol I’ll bring back with me. Then I’ll probably do my patriotic duty and buy something to boost the American economy. I’m thinking a gun of some kind. Probably a large calibre semi-automatic. I mean what’s more patriotic than that?

When all else fails… post a pic.

I fancy myself an amateur photographer. Well of course I’m an amateur photographer, seeing as anyone who’s capable of taking a snapshot and not making a living at it is, by definition, an amateur. What I should have said is that I consider myself a avid amateur photographer.

If you’re a digital photographer you should check out Scott Kelby’s blog. He’s a prolific author and educator out of Florida and co-founder of the National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAAP).

If you like video podcasts, you might like Photoshop User TV, another Scott Kelby effort. You can also find this on iTunes Music Store.

I tend to over think the planning of a trip. I obsess over everything. I’m afraid I’ll forget something, so I over pack. I’m afraid I’ll get back home only to find I missed some golden nugget of discovery, so I over plan. But I like doing the research. Poring over maps, travel guides, and of course Googling everything I can think of. You never know what you’ll find.

One of the challenges of planning this trip to Newfoundland is that there’s essentially only one main road, Route 1. With the exception of the Avalon region, which includes the city of St. John’s, almost all the road off of Route 1 are one way stubs to small towns or villages. And there’s a lot of small towns and villages. So it makes sense if you can figure out ahead of time which of these places is worth the one-way, out-and-back, effort.

This is where the internet is so helpful in scoping out often overlook, bypassed, and neglected gems. It seems that every one horse town and backwater burg has a town web site. Which brings me to Burgeo…

The band is Route 480, named for the road into, and out of, Burgeo, Newfoundland. I haven’t been able to find really anything more about this band. If anyone can find a contact or a web site or anything, please drop me a note.