Do I Dare?

Once again my total ignorance of the internal combustion engine finds me posting a question that I hope somebody in the know can answer for me. I have no qualms about washing the car at a place like this with the high pressure gun, but other than the possibility of knocking the scooter over would there be any "danger" in washing it here?

I fear giving it a good bath and then going to fire it up only to find that I got something wet that I shouldn't have and that I won't be able to get myself home. Yeah, I know cycles get wet in the rain and work just fine, but if I'm shooting water at high pressure up under the plastic, well? What are the odds that I'm going to have a spiffy, shiny bike that won't go anywhere when I'm done?

Thank you in advance for whatever helpful comments you might leave. Lord knows I need 'em!

Fallen Soldier

"...any man's death diminishes me,
because I am involved in mankind..."

-John Donne, Meditation XVII

Every now and then, in my travels, I come upon one of these...

[Name graphically obscured.]

...and my heart fills with anger. I don't know if you have these testimonials, generally to human stupidity, out your way, but here one usually stands in tribute to a drunk driver who killed himself or who took some innocent soul out of mortal existence. It's hard for me to exude any genuine sympathy for somebody who drives inebriated and as a result screws up his life or ends it, but even so I find myself sharing Donne's sentiment in feeling sadness because we're short one comrade on this pilgrimage of life, even if he wasn't the brightest crayon in the box.

That same kind of shake my head and wonder why anger and melancholy came upon me last year when a young soldier crashed his ATV into a legally parked trailer and ended his life. That's his "shrine" pictured above, only a few blocks from where I hang my hat at night. I happened to be driving around the corner nearby there that evening and saw all the flashing lights, but it wasn't until the evening news came on at 11 that I realized what had happened.

Everybody around here (except the police who don't seem to bother enforcing many local traffic and parking ordinances) knows that ATVs aren't allowed on city streets. This guy simply shouldn't have been joy riding here. I'm sure he didn't set out on his ride that evening thinking, "Here I go!" Yet, there he went into that good night, in spite of having worn a helmet while he was illegally touring the city. If you don't have the resources to get yourself a trailer to transport your fun, street illegal, little riding toy out into the woods so you can ride it there, don't buy the toy in the first place, and when you ride around the city and skin your knee or take your head off, don't come crying to me because I won't give you any public sympathy though I'll bow my head respectfully at your untimely passing quietly and in private, and whisper the age old words of the Requiem - "Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord..."

Crisis? No, Sir!

It was suggested by somebody who ought to know me a whole lot better that my getting a scooter was part of a mid life crisis. Nope. I'd say second childhood is more like it. I loved riding my bicycle when I was a kid and a teen and I often rode my ten speed to relatively distant places just for the fun of the ride. I might have pulled the old bike out of my parents' basement when my daughters were learning to ride, but my cousin's husband dropping dead in his early 40s while taking an after dinner bike ride scared that idea right out of me.

Although I've had to squelch a lot of my favorite childlike qualities for the sake of being a responsible, functioning adult, they're still right under the surface and I like letting them out when I can get away with doing so. Yes, perhaps riding a scooter is an expression of that part of me that longs to be 10 again, and if it is, I make no apologies for that. I've done a fairly decent job at adulthood, and if my bike is a little bit of a reward that lets me feel young again, good for me! I'll take it!

The air was cold today, not out of the 30s, but while the sun was blazing I managed to get out for a ride that lasted a few hours, and I loved every turn of the wheels. Since winter kicked into high gear I missed the unique kind of introspection that I only seem capable of doing while I'm riding, and I was long overdue for some quality cranial cobweb cleaning. I didn't finish figuring myself out while I was on the bike today, but I made some progress. Um, I think.

When I'm on the cycle I often pull over for a view that I'd not bother stopping to enjoy if I were in the car. This was a peek I got of the Susquehanna River this afternoon that almost made the dirty old thing look inviting. Well, inviting to look at it, at least. I'd still not dip so much as a single toe into it.

There was some switching action at the train yard which made stopping there it a worthwhile pause. Although the yard is about 15 miles from home, many of the trains which pass through it are the very same ones that I can watch from the back window of my house. Add a cup of hot coffee to watching a long freight roll through on a winter's night, and it's one of those moments that make life's simple pleasures the best.

I stared wistfully for a while on the other side of the fence from Interstate 81 and wanted to go out to play with the big dogs. I've ridden between one exit and the next on the interstate now and then, each time scaring myself more than I'd like to admit. I don't know if it's just that the scooter feels so lightweight or if I'm that bothered by feeling so utterly vulnerable, but when I'm out there I feel totally edgy and can't wait to get off the highway. I wonder if a heavy motorcycle would feel more safe?

Come to think of it, and I'll bet one of you guys can answer this for me, what is it about the design of the scooter that makes it feel like a fly weight? I can see all of the shiny, awesome looking parts on a "real motorcycle," and they all give it so much substance. I'm half afraid that if I were to peel the plastic off the BV250 I'd see something that looks more like my lawnmower engine than a motorcycle engine. Is that what's under there?

Anyway, it was a nice day for riding, I took advantage of it, and I'm even more looking forward to spring popping up all over!