Skip to main content

A Peace of My Mind



This is me on my Yamaha Stratoliner heading up to Wisconsin.  Neighbor Tim is in the rear trying to keep up on his Harley.  I travel possessed.  Gotta get up - Gotta get back.  That's my motto.  Never stay anyplace long enough to where they get a good reading on you.  Except in the case of Mr. and Mrs. Wombie when I head up to Northlandia.  Then I stay weeks on end.  The perpetual guest.  I'm working on finding accommodations elsewhere to give you guys a break.  I know a nice camper in someone's back yard that will do nicely.  

 Anyway, the Good Neighbor and I headed off to Wisconsin after Labor Day.   A nice quick 2-dayer, up to Reedsburg and back.  Consider it a dry run for next year's return trip of 3 days.  Do I hear 4?  I have promised the Neighbor I will s-l-o-w the fuck down and simply take it all in.  Next year.  Labor Day week?  Yeah.  I'm down for that.

 I've taken many trips.  Fast ones.  It might be kinda nice to s-l-o-w the fuck down and relax.  One of the things you cannot do on a motorcycle trip is take pictures of the passing scenery.  By the time you see something worth snapping, it is behind you.  OK, so then if you really really must have that pic, you stop, look out for traffic and then do a U-y back to the spot you passed.  You climb off, find the camera nnd take the picture.  Then you climb back on (which isn't always easy), start up the bike, look both ways and do another U-y.  Sound simple?  It's not.  I once dropped my bike in soft red Georgia soil to take a picture of a Confederate cemetery.  Damn Rebels.

 I do want to s-l-o-w the fuck down.  And I will.  

 Here are the only pictures of our Wisconsin trip.  


       Parked in front of the cheapest motel in Reedsburg.    



Nice pink wall.  Perhaps the hardest bed I have ever been on.  A bit of a sleepless night.  When I opened the door a large beetle scampered across the floor.  Didn't ask Neighbor Tim about his accommodations: it simply goes that Ma and Pa places can't compete with the industry big boys.  I'll take Ma and Pa any day.  



Suiting up in the morning shadows.  My place was on the bottom right, Tim's just next door.  The place had one of those single cup coffee machines, which was nice.


It is said that on our deathbeds it's not the things we have done that we will regret, but rather, the things we didn't do.  Gladly, we are going to go back up next year for three days whcih will give us more time to scout out the state.  

S - l - o - w down, Mike.  Savor, taste, take the time. 

If you want to go fast, go alone.
If you want to go far, go together.  African Proverb     

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Flashback Friday

Class, Or Lack Thereof The Dwight Vice gravestone in Oquawka, Illinois. I bring this old chestnut out every so often just to remind me that class is classless.  Dwight Vice was killed in his home near Oquawka in 2001.  It was one of those things that can generate crime:  two guys thought Dwight had a lot of money stashed at home because of his pot-selling sideline to supplement his fishing job.   Not really one of those big drug deals gone-bad things.  Marijuana was, according to the trial, about the only stuff Dwight sold.   But these two guys barge into the house and killed Dwight and attempted to kill his 11 year old kid, Darryl, before they took off with what money they could find.   His son, now 23, was stabbed in the back and left for dead.  He survived and is wheelchair bound and has undergone several surgeries to repair his wounds.  He will be paralyzed for life.   None of this is pleasant.  Reading the f...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Mary Davis Home - Part 2

None of these pictures were taken by me,  they came right from the MDH website.  I am posting these so that friends who have never seen inside where I worked can gain access.  After 27 years I have many stories, tales and acquaintances.  But, I wouldn't know how to express them appropriately in a few paragraphs.  I enjoyed 98% of my stay there and hope I made a difference in the lives of a fraction of the kids who entered.  The original MDH at this site was just the front part.  The large red-roofed area in back was added on in the 90's. This is the Jerry Carlton library.  It was unofficially named after one of the counselors who truly loved the place.   He passed away around 2002, I think.  Mr. Farber looks like he is explaining a few things to a client. The classroom. Activity area with the gym behind the windows. Another shot of the classroom. It was a little different area to teach since we had 2 classes and 2 teachers i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Statuary In North Straub Park

The Vinoy is not the only park in town.  The place is fairly littered with them, and almost all, except Bum Paradise, are pretty nice.  This is North Straub and they have some old pieces in that seem to have suffered from time and perhaps human folly.     These and some 30 other statues were imported from Italy by local developer C. Perry Snell to help beautify the city.  Mr. Snell was in real estate and during the depression he went on a European shopping trip to collect items for the city.  He obtained these from Italy and installed them in this park even after the bottom fell in the markets.  He fulfilled his obligations at great personal loss to his own company and wealth.  Halso continued to pay his staff during those tough times.  He developed many areas in the city, Vinoy, Snell Isle, Crescent Lake and the beach area down around Fort DeSoto.  He lived from 1869 until 1949 and then buried in Kentucky.  I wo...
Post a Comment
Read more