Since it looks like my surgery will go off on time I had a hard decision to make.

Today I put my bike up for the winter. Earlier than ever before. She needs new tires, and an oil change and the headlight is out, plus one of the running lights is cracked by a stone peck. It just makes sense to do it. New tires now, to sit in the frozen garage all winter, plus new oil to do the same. And I still have all my other winterizing to do. Put air conditioners away, weatherstrip, caulk, rake, deal with Patty's flowers, the lawn mower, the storms.

So I washed the Roadie. I dried her and eased her into the garage. I promised her I would come out and visit during the winter. I lovingly put the StaBil in the tank, and removed the battery to bring into the warm.

So the world will coat my horizon in white fluff, whose kiss is a bitter as a slap. I will crawl into a cage and travel on four wheels hearing the slop of gray city slush instead of the throb of a mighty engine. My boots will be of rubber, not cowhide, my coat fleece lined and turned up against a biting wind.

I'll slip and slog from building to truck, a dark speck of humanity in a world of white, blanketed by an ashen sky.

I will stare out blurry frosted windows, and wonder where the warm breath of spring is, and I will not hear the Voice of the Roadie in the land.

But, one day, after an age made longer by waiting, the sun will shine, and the practiced nose will catch the scent of honeysuckle on the wind. Above will be the music of the Canadas returning to the fields of the south. And the waiter, the watcher, will turn a face upward, and under a shielding hand, he will see the sun rides higher in the sky.

Then a new, lighter, version of me will reverse the process, adorn his ride with tires, lights, and nourish her with new oil. And she will fire, and he will relax, and they will dance together, shift, lean, shift, dream......................................

I can smell the honeysuckle on the wind Thanks Ryan... you'll be back on her banded! But maybe with the smell of oil?

shift, lean, shift, dream.......sweet

It's nice to know someone feels the same as me. Mine is in the garage, and I look at it everytime I walk past. I will miss riding for a while, but I know she will be there when I am ready. I will send you some of the warmer weather this spring. We'll both be riding with the wind in our faces and smaller bodies before we know it.

Good Luck Ryan!

Think of this as your chrysalis stage, dear butterfly. You will be emerging from your cocoon, gingerly testing your new body, and finding it takes you places you never dreamed of... :cool:

While you were putting up your bike, I was putting up my canoes and all my camping equipment.

Next spring, when the rivers are running high, I will dig past the snow shovels in the garage and find the paddles and life jackets. I will have to dust the life jackets off after their long winter. I will load my truck full of gear, strap the boats on top and head off for another adventure. Being on the river is truly a wonderful experience, alternately exhilirating amd contemplative, a time for connecting with friends and finding yourself. Camping in a desert canyon, with the sky full of stars and the sound of the river echoing on the canyon walls is one of the best places to recharge your soul. Watching desert big horn ship scamper on the canyon rim and bald eagles glide on the thermal uplifts the canyon has created is truly wonderful. The best way for me to spend as many weekends in the summer as possible.

Your canoe trips sound wonderful. I love going down the river. I have a funny story, I don't know if it will be funny to you, but it was to me.

My hubby and I were out on the river in a rented canoe. We were going to go fishing. Off we started, and I was in front and was paddling so hard as we were going against the current. My arms was hurting so bad after about an hour and I turned around and to say something to him and his feet were propped up and his paddle on his lap. I had been doing it all! Well I put my paddle up and made him do it all the rest of the time. He tought it was funny. Then we started fishing and was catching a lot of fish. We put the fish on a stringer, and about an hour later, he ask me if I was letting our fish go, some was floating away. I said no, and tried to pull the stringer of fish up. Well, I couldn't get them up, and I said they are stuck. I was bent clear in the Water to my shoulder trying to get these fish up. Well all of a sudden they started to come up and a HUGE, MEAN, UGLY, TURTLE, COVERED IN MOSS, came up holding one of our fish in his mouth. I started laughing, and holding the turtle up and my husbads eyes got so big, and he said if you put that thing in this canoe with us, I am going out the other side. All I could do was laugh, he was so scared. Unfortunately, the fish broke lose from the stringer, and the turtle went back in the water. I think I got even with him that day for all the paddling he put me through. We still laugh about it.

Betty - that is indeed a funny story. It is a running joke in the canoeing world. A friend of mine who always paddled in the bow (front) of the boat with her husband took a Sharpie Marker and wrote on the back of her life jacket "Are You Paddling?"

I have been known to take my paddle out of the Water and twirl it over my head like a baton in the middle of a rapid to show off for my friends on shore - all the while the poor bow paddler has no idea why the boat is suddenly going sideways through the waves!

We have no turtles in our rivers - I would be with your husband, threatening to jump out of the boat, but I'd be afraid of the turtle's family still in the water, just waiting for my juicy toes! MMM, tasty!

Just remember that stern paddlers are a sneaky lot and to keep a wary eye on them at all times.

(sigh) Is it just me or is Fall always the season of change for you all too? Somehow, when the leaves begin to change and suddenly are covering the ground, I take note of the fact that just as Autumn is moving in, so is my life moving on into something new. I've always said spring and summer are my favorite seasons, but I do find it interesting how I feel the change in my very being when Fall begins to make itself known.

As usual, Ryan, you take my breath away with the beauty of your words and the sentiment behind them.

:cool:

Ryan I just love the way you express yourself with your words.

Fall is definately my favorite season. I love the smell in the air, the changing of the leaves on the tree and the chilly nights & Halloween is my most favorite holiday!! ( must be the witch in me :cool:

When the sky looms above you, like an overturned bowl of ashes, and the trees are but charcoal drawings against a bleak horizon.

When the wind cuts through you like the scream of a child, and in the dark paths of the night you can almost hear it whispering your name.

When the dry leaves, hanging in the breeze, rasp together like the voices of old men, And darkness comes so swiftly, sometimes before you can get the key turned in the lock of your front door.

When shadows blend together, and the night feels like it's breathing, and you're sure that something moved just when you looked away...............

Then it's easy to believe there are things we don't want to know, things that crawl through the night, hating the creatures of the light.

We can concieve of a hidden world, teeming just below our sight, the rustle of the night,,,,,,,,,,,,, and the unquiet grave.

Happy Halloween, a little early.

Originally posted by live2canoe

While you were putting up your bike, I was putting up my canoes and all my camping equipment.

Being on the river is truly a wonderful experience, alternately exhilirating amd contemplative, a time for connecting with friends and finding yourself. The best way for me to spend as many weekends in the summer as possible.

Each of us has something, which touches us so deeply, that we will do it, not for money, not for fame, but solely for the love of it. My heart goes out to anyone who hasn't yet found that thing that takes their soul to that special place.

We will both welcome the spring!

Amen!

I often feel sorry for people who haven't found discovered what it is for them that makes them happy and content to their very core.

I have found that Bikers and Boaters often have a great deal in comon.

I am indeed looking forward to spring.

We have a lot in common, I've noticed that. Passion is universal.

Think of this as your chrysalis stage, dear butterfly. You will be emerging from your cocoon, gingerly testing your new body, and finding it takes you places you never dreamed of...

What a beautiful thought! Years ago I reassured a relative going through a traumatic divorce that he was in a chrysalis stage, and needed time to get ready for the next phase of his life. To think that all bandsters are growing our own wings, each set beautiful in its own way, to let us alight on flowers or soar.

Live2canoe, I promised myself a Grand Canyon rafting trip to Celebrate my banding anniversary next year. I might not look good in shorts by then, but I won't be self-consciously wondering if I'm going to sink everyone in the raft.

Zoe, better schedule that trip now...it used to take a year to get a spot. That is something wonderful to look forward to.

I can't believe it was only 10 years ago that I hiked the Grand Canyon in one day, 22 miles! We couldn't get reservations to camp in the canyon even though we tried to get them 6 months ahead of time.

I am very close to the same weight now and need to get in shape again and start climbing mountains!

Grand Canyon bash in September 2005, anyone? Rafting, hiking, sipping margaritas (or lemonade) under the stars. . .