Apparently the theme for this years Halloween is skeletons.  In addition to the giant half-skeleton coming out of the ground from last week’s ride, I saw some people having some fun with their bone buddies.  As we headed into the cul de sac where we do our on street U-turns, one neighbor had placed a skeleton in a lawn chair and a Green Bay Packers jersey waving.  Across the street, a second skeleton in a lawn chair was hanging out and waving back.  I liked those Halloween decorations much more than the house that had a giant scary clown blow up in front.

            I also noted a lot of spiders and webs strung about lawns.  I can enjoy the seasonal décor because I’m riding past everything on a beautiful, sunny day.  Even the creepy clown isn’t too scary in the bright sunshine.  But there was more to look at than just the Halloween decorations.  The most exciting sight was what I believe was my first ever Diana Fritillary butterfly.  I spotted her two miles into the ride as she floated across the street.  At first I thought it was an odd looking swallowtail, but it was furry looking and smaller, so I think it was the Diana Fritillary. 

            She wasn’t the only butterfly out.  I spotted five cabbage white butterflies during our ride.  And I was startled by an Orange Sulfur butterfly that appeared over my left shoulder and nearly flew into my visor before heading out away from me.  I find it odd how last week I only saw two butterflies the whole ride, yet this week I spotted seven.  The weather for both days was very similar, and we were riding at about the same time of day.  At some point I should do some more in-depth research on butterflies and their behaviors because the more I ride, the more curious I am about them.

            We encountered two large gaggles of Canadian geese of twenty-plus.  Or we encountered one very large gaggle of over forty that had spread out over half the block.  And of course, there were squirrels being squirrely.  I don’t mind, though, as this gives me quick braking practice.  I did dab my foot during the second on street U-turn which led me to think about why I dab.  Obviously, there is a feeling of unbalance, but I have experienced that feeling and been able to increase my speed and rebalance the motorcycle.  So I wondered after the fact if I could have saved the turn without dabbing.  But I think dabbing is more of an instinctual reaction to the unbalanced bike.  I would like to work on saving the bike without dabbing, but that’s rather difficult because I would be risking dropping the bike on asphalt.  If I still had the field behind the school, I might risk the drop to work on this skill.

            I was disappointed that we didn’t head up the curvy road for two reasons.  One reason is my enjoyment of riding the curves and counter steering.  My second reason was getting the motorcycle to 2000 miles.  I’m at 1998, but I will have to wait for next week’s ride to break 2000, and I am looking forward to it!