Coop's Corner: Been Busy

Saturday, June 28, 2014

Been Busy

We've been working longer hours, home later, then a few chores and before we know it, time for bed. Even with the longer days, evenings seem woefully short lately. It would help if it would quit raining since Rain + Early Summer = Mowing. Once per week hasn't been enough and I'm not one of those yard fanatics either. When I do get out there to mow, it never fails that it should have been done a few days previous.

Just a bit over a week ago, friend Dan wrote that a long time friend of his had a bike for sale. The email went out to over a dozen people, addy's and names I recognized...."Bike for sale, thought I'd put the word out to help a buddy....." I responded first, called and bought the bike over the phone, sight unseen.

I've never owned a Kawasaki before; this a '95 KLR250.

We all know, now most everyone knows that I need another one about as bad as I need another hole in my head. The saving grace may just be that I'm now at an even number and something else that we all know, odd numbers can be just that, odd. So now that I'm up to an even number, I will have that going for me, at least for the time being.

Picked up from a Wisconsin farm within sight of Illinois, the 550 mile round trip last Sunday to bring it home was very much worth it. Wednesday night I had it out the driveway and down to the corner a few times (2.4 miles) and today I took it to Lake City for some fresh gas. There are some accoutrements on their way via online shopping that will hopefully make it even more suited than it already is right now for Coop Riding. I'm pretty excited.

It was a farm bike that hadn't seen an excess amount of "farm" from the looks of things and even though the "Barbie" colors/plastic look actually quite good, some patina is present. I won't be the first one to put a scratch on it or get something twisted out of perfection.

Lauren is back from Georgia, so today we headed down to the Nelson Cheese Factory for lunch to celebrate her return. We had our food orders in and were waiting for our food to be brought out onto the patio when I saw friend Paul come around the corner, battling an ice cream cone that was yielding to the very warm and humid day. I tried to do the talking so that Paul could concentrate on his more important task of saving as much as possible of the cone as he could. A valiant attempt was made; most of the cone ended up where it belonged.

Good to see you again Paul and yes, the driveway has been a challenge off and on the last few weeks.

On the way home we stopped in Wabasha and I hopped out to take a couple of shots. Remember this back on May 25?

Today it looks like this......compare the water under the distant bridge. No boats being launched from here this weekend.

I haven't really had the black Yamaha Morphous out yet this year, so decided to do a bit more Mississippi River Flood inspection, this time north of us to Red Wing.

Again, remember this back on April 20?

Today, June 28th.......at least the trees are green.

Looking upriver, the river barge empty and waiting to be filled with grain. The 'edge' of the river is where those poles are for tying off the barges.

More ducks........Red Wing's signature Boat Houses......don't want those river-going vessels to get wet.

I've got all of next week off......guess what I'll be doing??

15 comments:

SonjaMJune 29, 2014 at 12:33 AM
The Kawa looks kinda spiffy for an ex farm bike, but the colours...
There you have its name: Barbie ;-)

Flooding hasn't been a big issue for us (yet), as we didn't have a real winter but there is lots of rain in the forecast and its stormy out there, so I won't be riding much today.

Enjoy your week off, and bring back pics, please.
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Coop a.k.a. CoopdwayJune 29, 2014 at 5:10 AM
Sonja, those years of KLR's had some interesting pastel colors that have become known as Barbie paint schemes. Real Men have altered them.....flat black, army green, desert tan, etc. I like it just the way it is :)

Regionally we've been flooded with rain and the ground is saturated. our 'dry' ditch is wet and stays that way, the soils here are saturated and have room for no more. Last week we had a heavy shower, rain that normally would have just soaked in but flooded our driveway. It would be nice if we could send all of this moisture where it could be better utilized.

Thank you! I'll have my tiny laptop along next week.
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DebJune 29, 2014 at 7:43 AM
Well, yeah, I mean didn't you own a PINK Buddy?! :=)

I like colors, of course I own a flat black Buddy which I am always trying to jazz up with color!

Anyway, pretty nice ride! Enjoy!

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RichardMJune 29, 2014 at 7:47 AM
Nice looking KLR! A friend of mine has a R100GSPD the same color. When I first saw it, it seemed like an odd color for a bike. A week off, eh? Must be a toad trip of some sort.

We've had a record month for rain and it's all been in the last few weeks. Lots of minor flooding but nothing serious due to water getting diverted around town by the flood control project.
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TrobairitzJune 29, 2014 at 10:07 AM
Your flood waters sure have been rising. Any idea when they will recede to normal levels?

Nice looking KLR even if it is the Barbie colors. Somehow I just don't think you mind the colors. Real men wear pink so why not ride pastel bikes too.

Have a great time on the trip. Will be looking forward to trip reports.
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CanajunJune 29, 2014 at 8:18 PM
I didn't realize you folks were getting so much rain and flooding like that. Hopefully it will turn soon and you'll have a series of nice sunny DRY days.
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David MasseJune 30, 2014 at 7:14 AM
Doug I hope you have a nice relaxing time.

I can't imagine having so many bikes. It would seem like a job just trying to award reasonable riding time to each of the bikes.
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UnknownJune 30, 2014 at 2:54 PM
Coop:

I've always wanted a dual sport 250cc something or other but it will never happen because of our inflated Government insurance where every vehicle has to pay FULL rate. Here they don't insure the driver, they make you insure each vehicle. Your KLR would probably cost me $750 per year

anyway, have an enjoyable time away and snap lots of photos

Oh, and keep away from the water unless you have KLR pontoons, or really large balloon tyres

bob
Riding the Wet Coast

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Back RoadJuly 4, 2014 at 7:46 PM
Nice KLR! I am a bit jealous! It looks to be in pretty nice shape. Hope you let us know how you like once you have spent some time on it.
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Others say....

"it was auspicious to approach any situation from a deferential, inquisitive place. Conceding that there is much to learn is the best blueprint for discovering something new." ----B. Fuller

The Man straightened stiffly above the block of salt fixed to the stake and looked at the young cattle ringed about him. The pasture was holding out well and the stock was looking good. This bunch would be ready to sell in another month, maybe sooner if the market was right.

A stir among the cattle down near the river brought him round to face the swinging bridge he'd built years before. Someone was coming toward him from the bridge. Someone in breeches, but it didn't look like a man, somehow. What was a woman doing in his pasture this time of night?

He bent over the salt again; maybe if he paid her no heed she'd go on past and let him mind his own business. He heard her footsteps come nearer and stop. "Good evening," she said.

Her voice was smooth with book learning but friendlier than most, and somehow almost shy. When he made no answer she went on, "I've been sitting on your swinging bridge....I thought I'd like to say thank-you...." Her voice stumbled a little, then she tried once more.

"You are Mr. ____". His name sounded strange in her voice, but she went on to tell her own.

"That's what they've called me the last sixty-eight years," he said, looking past her face to the hills fast darkening under a single star. "I reckon the woods are free for those that like to walk there."

The unfamiliar voice laughed a little. "That's what Emerson said: the grove belongs to the man who walks in it with an open heart....On that basis I guess I've owned part of your woods for a good many years.....". She made a final effort. "I've always wanted to thank you....."

Something deeply hidden stirred in him. "There's a stump up there, in the notch of the woods", he said slowly, "that before the timber grew so tall you could stand on it and see all over this country."

He kept still a minute, remembering, then, "I used to stand up there an' look at things, an' wonder how they come to be like they was, an' how the hills was created, an' all the things in Nature.... I told my wife I guessed all the religion I ever had I got standin' on that old stump, a-wonderin'..." He turned his face away from her.

She helped him out. "I know about that, a little. This afternoon I saw......." Her account of a thing she had really taken time to look at eased him, and he answered with telling of the badger den at the foot of the swinging bridge.

When she had gone, he turned to watch her. After a moment she stood clear and unmoving against the sky. You could hear the sounds of the river where she stood. She was one that could stand still long enough, he thought, really to hear what a body was saying, or a river.

Then she walked down the farther side of the slope and was gone. ------Margaret Snyder from A Chosen Valley

Fall was the end of harvest, end of the growing season, a burst of color and sun-warmth before killing frost turned the land gray and cold. Fall was a moody time, full of both life and death, a time when we were reminded of the power outside of us, reminded that the seasons happen to us. We do not invite the change to come.-------Ben Logan, from The Land Remembers

When you get those rare moments of clarity, those flashes when the universe makes sense, you try desperately to hold onto them. They are the lifeboats for the darker times, when the vastness of it all, the incomprehensible nature of life is completely elusive. So the question becomes or should have been all along, what would you do if you knew you only had one day, or one week, or one month to live. What lifeboat would you grab onto? What secret would you tell? What band would you see? What person would you declare your love to? What wish would you fulfill? What exotic locale would you fly to for coffee? What book would you write? ------- Ben Tyler

We were also cautioned about journeying far from home. As an example of the dangers, the town had a badly crippled lady named Lucy, who as a girl had traveled to New York City. As she traveled along a sidewalk, sightseeing, she was struck by the outstretched hand of a suicide who had leapt from high above. Her spine had been shattered and for the rest of her life, she was to walk bent forward at the waist, tapping the sidewalk with two black canes. Whenever the subject of travel to a big city was raised, someone would say, "Just remember what happened to Miss Tripp." ---- Ted Kooser, from Local Wonders

"Steamboats are like wedding cakes without the complications...." ----Mark Twain

"It's not about having lots of money, it's about having lots of options......." -----Chris Rock

As the very proud father of three former ponytail wearers, hopefully I can get away with this....."For the past few years it's been fashionable for young women to wear ball caps and to snap the strap on the back under their ponytails. I like the looks of that, their shiny ponytails jauntily swinging, but it's hard not to think of the rear ends of horses. There's a piece of harness called the crupper that goes just under a horse's tail to keep its nose down. If the horse lifts its head to look for a way out of whatever predicament it's in, the crupper tightens and hurts the horse. But it's foolish for parents to think that a ball cap might keep a young woman from running away. Anybody can see they're made for running." ------Ted Kooser, Local Wonders

"I tell the guy's girlfriend that the only difference between the book's main character Phaedrus and myself is that I am neither brilliant, tortured or insane, she looks at my bike and there is an uncomfortable silence." --------ahendepe (a.k.a. Vermin)