Avast, me hearties! It be “Talk Like a Pirate” day! If you didn’t know, that is a real thing in the same way Friday was National Cheeseburger day. There was treasure to be had, but there was also a near stranding, and my motorcycle ride provided me with some much needed de-stressing.
Our ride almost didn’t happen. I needed to help fix my Mom’s printer, so while I was working on that, Bill decided to reattach the shade hook that had broken off my rear seat shade. He figured out how to get the stuck plastic to move, but he stumbled upon a larger problem when he finished the repair and went to raise the window. The car wouldn’t start. I tried; it made that sick, gasping sound as it tries to catch but dies. The battery light was on, and the car is five years old. Even my Mom knows modern car batteries only seem to last five years. So instead of jumping on our motorcycles and enjoying the sunny day in the low-80s for a ride, Bill removed all the plastic “over-coating” to get the battery out.
We had some luck. Within my Dad’s remain tools (brothers have borrowed the rest), was the just right size long socket wrench to remove the battery bolts. And, because the battery died at my parents’ house, I could borrow my Mom’s car to head to Autozone to buy a new battery. Three hundred dollars and almost two hours later, Bill was installing the new Duralast battery, the car started and, hot, sweaty, and tired, we could finally ride.
While the car repair operation was underway, I had the chance to watch the Blue Angels which were performing at the air show. They were miles away, but I could clearly see two blue jets flying up and around in a tandem loop. Mostly I listened to them as I held an umbrella to provide Bill some shade from the sun. I hoped for a close fly by like I saw last year, but no luck. Our luck was used up with the car situation. I had fun spotting the tiny jets flying in and out of the fluffy clouds. I managed to catch the wavy contrail of one of the jets as it flew straight up.
Later than planned, we finally were able to gear up and head out on the motorcycles—the reason we were there. I had managed to fix my Mom’s printer; the computer mostly just needed some serious updates. Because the afternoon had been so stressful, I was extra careful with my awareness. I noted the shadows from the trees were longer across the roads, so I looked more carefully for hidden hazards. That didn’t make the ride stressful; it was the opposite. The air rushing over me cooled me off, and I enjoyed the R Nine T leaning and falling away from me in the turns. Bursts of speed made me laugh out loud, and I almost thoroughly enjoyed the ride. Almost.
Halfway into the zooming, my chin started to itch badly enough that I actually tried to get to it. My full-face helmet prevented me any access to scratch the itch. I tried blowing air down on it. But I had to endure it until the itch went away as mysteriously as it appeared. I laughed about it because it seemed par for the day.
The only wildlife I spotted were two squirrels off on the sidewalks. The mornings have been dipping into the 60s, so butterflies are soon going to disappear for the season. Fall arrives next week and, if it keeps giving me cool days like today for motorcycle riding, I’ll take all they bring.
Flutterby Biker 