Today’s ride was wintry for sure.  The sky was gray and the wind was bitterly cold bringing the temperature down to below 40 degrees.  But I was bundled up well and my heated grips were working, so I was mostly comfortable except for chilly fingertips.

            Even under the gray skies, I managed to spot a white egret flying overhead as we started off and two more in the low tidal waters at the park.  I also spotted two ospreys, one in each neighborhood, as we rode, and the squirrels were busy in the yards but keeping off the roads.  Yet there seemed a quietness as we rode, that winter stillness that seems to settle over the land.

            I noted that despite spotting a few pink winter roses and some newly planted purple pansies, there was a brown hue to the landscape as we rode by.  The pines and other evergreens and grass are greens muted by the winter brown.  One of the joys of riding my motorcycle is experiencing the seasons from the saddle and enjoying their unique features.

            About midway through the ride my nose started itching.  Now while riding a motorcycle, it is possible to take a hand off the handlebars.  With cruise control some riders even take both hands off the handlebars.  So theoretically I could take my left hand off the bars, lift my visor, and bump my nose with my gloved fingers.  But I didn’t want to open my visor in the cold air.

            To distract myself from the itch, my mind went to how in today’s society, so many needs are immediately met.  Are you hungry?  Uber eats will deliver nearly anything you want.  Feeling ill?  Medicine is on its way, or you can get a virtual appointment and a prescription without getting out of your pajamas.  But riding my R Nine T, dressed in my safety gear with its extra layering for the cold, scratching my nose was not a simple task.  And what if I just endured the inconvenience of an itchy nose?  Would the delayed gratification feel better?  Or, as did happen, would the itchy nose cease to itch?  And am I better person for having endured it?

            I realize how silly this is, but my ride did distract me from the itchy nose.  During a U-turn in a cul-de-sac, I was letting out the clutch to increase my speed a little.  I was , in the full bars to the left, front wheel turned, and the bike wasn’t accelerating.  I tried a little throttle, and I only got engine revving.  I had mis-shifted into neutral and had to quickly shift into first and accelerate to maintain the motorcycle in an upright position.  Luckily, the boxer engine saved my balance and let me save the turn.  And I soon forgot about my itchy nose.

            As the ride ended, I had a new focus as I dismounted—the bathroom.  Eventually, due to my recovering from a cold, I did get to scratch my itchy nose.

            And, in the immortal words of Monty Python, “now for something completely different,” my motorcycle Christmas gift.  Bill surprised me with Dream Apparel’s motorcycle bell.  The bell says, “Never ride faster than your angel can fly.”  It is a guardian angel bell to protect me from road gremlins.  Next week, we’ll get it affixed to my motorcycle.  I don’t know if it will protect me from itchy noses though, but I’m willing to keep riding to find out.