Sunshine with a high of 72 for the day, and the butterflies loved it.  Our little garage cabbage white fluttered by as we geared up, but he was just the beginning.  My motorcycle odometer showed 2221, so Bill wanted me to take the lead and pull over when it turned over to 2222.  I led us down the curvy road and learned shadows on the road can hide hidden dangers that I had to swerve to avoid (divots in the road from the construction equipment or a hidden sewer plate).  I got to see the clump of yellow Japanese irises; usually I only see the Japanese iris in purple.  And I hope to see the bald eagle, but I didn’t have that kind of luck.

            We did get to see an osprey rising from the river and heading back to the nest with a snack for its chick.  And I did spot a family of Canadian geese with five or six goslings.  But what I saw mostly during our ride was butterflies.  I counted thirty-one cabbage whites out enjoying the day, two ceraunus blue butterflies, a tiger swallowtail, what I think was a banded hairstreak, and a bright orange butterfly that may have been a question mark butterfly as we packed up the car.

            Clearly, butterflies love roses, irises, and day lilies as I saw even more in bloom.  And there is honeysuckle and the clean, fresh scent of magnolia blossoms for the butterflies to enjoy.  I was right there with them, enjoying the cool air; it was a day made both for motorcycles and butterflies.

            My experience with the shadows on the road made me appreciate more having Bill in the lead.  Being in front requires more awareness as I’m the first to encounter obstacles such as the mail truck pulling out into our lane as we came around a curve.  After the 2222 mile check, I let Bill retake the lead and focused on my riding.  I did a little bit of target fixation swerving, but I was too busy counting butterflies to do too many.  My on-street U-turns were all roadway, and my sudden stops went really well.  I had two hitches, though.  One was when I somehow had my left foot out of place on the foot peg and couldn’t find the shifter.  It took me two tries before my toes finally got where they needed to be, but I didn’t panic.  I used the clutch to help slow the bike with the rear brake.  The second hitch was when I thought I had shifted up to fourth gear (which I had), so I didn’t downshift fully and left a stop in second gear.  The R Nine T have a shudder but it didn’t stall, so I recovered nicely.

            I don’t know how many more days we’ll have such wonderful weather or such wonderful company with the butterflies and birds.  But I do know, I’ll be out next week riding to find out.

            Happy Mother’s Day to all the Moms who read this.