Coop's Corner: Windy - More than normal?

Sunday, June 14, 2020

Windy - More than normal?

According to the experts, yes, the wind has been consistently high. My literal seat of the pants (riding) testing absolutely is in line with the statistics. My un-faired bikes have been giving me a beating, especially bad coming south today on the Honda 400 Automatic.

Peg's deck furniture, the remaining pieces, arrived Friday making it just that much more comfortable to be outside on the deck; we've been spending more and more time out there. Hummingbird feeders have been filled and hung, additional hummingbird feeders have been filled and hung. Also, an Oriole feeder has been installed but too late to contain the pair that was here for a few days. However, the House Finches have been voracious jelly consumers.

I was on the deck, trying to capture the bird life and as long as I had the camera in Zoom mode, thought I'd try and capture Peg's return from her walk. Shocked that she could see me (younger eyes), she waved and I caught it. Using technology to its fullest, it has been determined that she was close to 1850' away in the 'wave' photo.

When she got back, with Lauren's help they made Chicken Puffs, a family favorite. Puff pastry with properly seasoned chicken salad within and I was feeling peckish after all of my bird photography.

Saturday morning I drove to Diamonds since I needed to pick some things up from Marty at GoMoto afterwards.

Lucy, owner of Diamonds had just arrived.

Two blue ones, not that different from each other.

Mike's American Classic....

Jeff's RD350....

Richard's nicely personalized CB1000. He got a Very good deal on this one and brought it back to life.

Mike's MadAss.....

Gary's Moto Guzzi...

Tom waiting for traffic on his Victory....

He gave me a chance to get my van included in the photo set.

Lucy's Kawasaki.....

Mark's Ascot....

Stan's Triumph...

I followed Mike up to GoMoto....it moves out smartly!

Thursday afternoon I decided that it was finally time to get the Honda 400 Automatic out and it was the only thing I rode all weekend, riding to a total mile accumulation of 394 miles.

Friday morning I met Steve and Eric at Pier 4 for breakfast.

Saturday after Diamonds and after our GoMoto stop, I returned to Frontenac and spent some time in the garage. Late in the afternoon, I decided to load up the 400 for a quick overnight camp at the nearby Kruger State Forest Campground. All 18 campsites taken, a big sign in the parking area, "BACHELOR PARTY SITE #6".

I wouldn't have stayed even if there had been room.

The Zumbro River....it rushes right along!

Coffee brew (instant) stop.

I toodled around and then stopped for Wings and a Salad in Wabasha.

Sunday a confusing, mindless wandering loop that apexed in Amery, Wisconsin.

Ellie's was open...

Nope, I've never seen a waterfall from an old pickup window either!

As mentioned, 394 miles on the 400A for the weekend, it never missed a beat and in fact, was flogged heading south into the wind this afternoon. It died coming in the driveway, I didn't catch Reserve in time, the last fill's gas mileage horrendous; I'd been getting 60's all day on proper roads.

Saturday evening the speedometer started going crazy and then howled like an injured Zombie so I stopped and disconnected the cable for the last 35 miles home. Lubed the cable....that wasn't it. Pulled the gauge head off, turned it upside down and put a few drops of light oil in the drive and after putting 5/10 on with my electric drill, put it all back together. Today the speedo was electronic in its steadiness with nary a waver, smooth and quiet.

Mike, I guess now there's one more....."if I ever talk about selling this thing, slap me up side the head...."

Some interesting vacation plans have been formulated and will be put into action in the not too distant future.

4 comments:

motormikeJune 15, 2020 at 5:46 AM
Honda slushbox :) (got it)
I enjoyed the birdie photos... we'r await'n the arrival of Cardinal's... we ever get Humming birds.
After read'n your blogs.. I have a urge to raid the fridge
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Dar June 21, 2020 at 1:17 AM
We get mostly hummingbirds here and the other mundane birds like sparrows, finches, bushtits, crows, ravens and seagulls. I see herron's in our Bay and the occasional eagle. I would love to see a cardinal. Most colourful bird I've seen is a stellar jay. Not much riding going on here due to covid, everyone is sticking close to home.
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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)