Coop's Corner: Overall, A Passing Grade

Sunday, October 14, 2018

Overall, A Passing Grade

I told myself and anyone else that would listen, "No riding this weekend".

Well you can already imagine what happened but we'll get to that in a bit. Until we do, an explanation of why it's been a busy week.

Monday night was our monthly VJMC meeting in Mpls, the first I've attended all summer.

Tuesday night, my first of 6 evening Community Ed History classes of Red Wing and area history. I really enjoyed episode 1 and am looking forward to the next 5 Tuesday evenings; next week Red Wing's contribution and involvement in the Civil War years. I've participated in more than one of Fred's previous presentations and own some of his other books.

Wednesday I had training to do at a facility down in Sheldon Iowa and on my way home, I stopped at Iowa's highest elevation, Hawkeye Point to eat my road lunch.

Way up at 1670, where the air is thin.....

End of week, plow truck started and hopefully ready for the inevitable snow, the much neglected portable generator started (2nd pull!!) that hasn't run since our last bad weather which was 2 winters ago. Lots of organizing, getting my camping stuff in containers and Traveling Van put back into Cargo Mode Van. Bikes shuffled, nothing winterized yet because I am overall an optimistic person.

The brake lever on the Himalaya finally replaced after I got an OEM pair from Marty at GoMoto. Also, I finally got my engine guards put on. I'd attempted the install weeks ago but quickly discovered there were some minor issues and didn't have or take the time to make 'adjustments'. One hole needed the threads cleaned out and there wasn't clearance for my tap; you can break them off if they're crookwards, something I know. Part of the bash plate had to be cut away, almost but not quite enough clearance for the engine guard mounting tab. Anyway, today they are on and though 'along', hopefully won't be used all that much as the miles build.

Cleaned up both of our Kitty Tubes, previous homes for our barn cats, Moisha and Percy, both now sadly deceased. We shall not be housing opossums. These are listed on Craig's and I can help with delivery; neither unit will be shipped.

Our huge rural mailbox post is rotten and needs repair, that resolution still waiting for a plan. It sees a lot of abuse from Township snow plowing.

Then it was mid-afternoon Saturday, sun popping through the clouds and the yearn to be in the breeze quite strong. It wasn't a big ride, no more than 5 miles at most, but it was a good ride.

No dangerous water.....we've been lucky this summer with the many hard rains and propensity for local flooding.

Entrance, Frontenac State Park.

My Annual Motorcycle State Park Permit being flashed.....we riders get a discount so I continue to get the card even though I don't always visit as often as I might, just to support the appreciated program.

Up the big hill.....

When the kids were small, we used our mini-boggans and sleds on that hill.

Only during Leaf Time is our local park's lot this full.

'made a loop through the campground....

From the Minnesota side on the park's bluff, looking across to Maiden Rock, Wisconsin across Lake Pepin.

Our local beach on the Mississippi River. Again, when offspring were small, there were many swimming sessions here. Later, the girls would ride their horses down here for their horses to do some swimming.

Not yet enough ice for me to be out there with the fishermen.....just give it a month or so.

The Garrard's were some of the first landowners/speculators in the area, their roots in Cincinnati pre-Civil War. My great grandfather bought our 162 acres from Israel Garrard in 1884.

A big surprise Saturday evening, Peg called from her part time job at the beautiful newly remodeled Sheldon Theater in Red Wing that she had 2 free tickets to the evening's show. Would I like to go? Do bears sleep in woods??? Peg hustled home to change and get something to eat and together we traveled back into Red Wing.

I was told by Peg, "...a woman vocalist, lounge-type performance, old standards...14 and older only....sounds like fun..."

Peg was told, " ....you've got to see her, incredible voice, looks like a model, a mouth like a sailor...."

Storm Large. An amazing voice and performer, someone absolutely meant to entertain us from a stage. Part of the Sheldon's Enlighten Series, performances meant to push and stretch a boundary here and there. I believe that she did that last evening in Red Wing. She incredibly exercises her wit, charm, entire body and finally best of all, a voice that a freight train should take a dirt road to listen to. When you are lucky enough to get the opportunity.....

Our buddy John was in the crowd, certainly unexpected. I noticed him only a bit after mentioning to Peg that I was surprised that there was no one in the audience that I recognized. John had been down in Winona looking at a Cougar (not to worry Louise, this the 4 wheel variety) and just happened to stop in Red Wing, then with an invitation to stick around for the evening show. We'll be seeing John next week at the monthly Guzzi Breakfast.

The Sheldon has a great season's-worth of shows coming up. The entire Coop Clan (those living within 100 miles at least) will be there for the Good Lovelies on December 7th. The show isn't sold out and you really should do your part to change that. You'll be happy to thank me later.

8am this (Sunday) morning, no way to start a motorcycle picnic day. Listen closely and you'll hear the pheasants complaining.

Chip once again graciously hosted our annual VJMC Picnic in North Minneapolis and the members showed up on a snowy October day. Food provided and potluck dishes brought in....no one went nor needed to go hungry. I re-upped for another year and am looking forward to more time spent with these dedicated and talented enthusiasts.

Many bike photos, Function key and F11 will go full screen and give more detail....no one's phone is big enough.

Home mid-afternoon, still cool up on the hills in our nearby valley, magical skies and colors with the white hilltops.

So, a warmer and drier week ahead. A very good chance that there will be some miles added next weekend. A passing grade because I mostly stayed away from riding, though didn't stay away from the 2 wheel'd machines.

4 comments:

RichardMOctober 14, 2018 at 6:03 PM
Managed to not get altitude sickness going through Iowa. Any pictures of the crash bar installation? It sounds like a lot of mods for something “from the factory”. But, it is RE...
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David MasseOctober 20, 2018 at 6:08 AM
I thoroughly enjoyed this post Doug. It had a definite Garrison Keillor Thanksgiving turkey dinner comforting feel to it. Thank you.
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Coop a.k.a. CoopdwayOctober 20, 2018 at 7:52 PM
David, thank you! Very kind of you to say.
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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)