It’s Spring Already (for pity's sake)

Our snow blower gave us trouble this season, so the driveway has a narrow swatch carved out, big enough for one compact car. At the end of the drive is the storage shed where we house the motorcycles. I can only see half the ramp. The snow on each side is still waist high where the snow was thrown while digging out storm after storm. I pull into the yard after a long day and immediately my brain cries, “its spring already for crying out loud. Start melting!”

Even if we could roll Blaze and The Vulcan out into the driveway, it’s covered with ice. Even if the driveway were clear, the road out of here is nothing but mud. Oh joy, mud season in New Hampshire. While I love living out in the boondocks, it does come with challenges sometimes. I tell myself to suck it up and do something productive. Since Andy needs a new helmet, I take him off to the Kawasaki dealership in the next town over. The sleds are still on the showroom floor. (That’s snowmobiles for those who live in milder climates.) The clerk has to go digging in the storage inventory to find what we want. In the end, Andy finds something he likes and that fits well. One motorcycle related activity done and I’m feeling better already.


When we get home I fish out the box we got ourselves for Christmas and which I haven’t yet opened. It’s a Sena SMH10 Bluetooth Motorcycle Headset. Several rider friends of ours have enjoyed using theirs, and we have become tired of the wires hanging from our helmets while using the walkie-talkies. I start reading the manual. I like to follow instructions. Andy likes to dive right in. We compromise. I start with charging the units. I’m surprised at how giddy I feel watching the indicator light turn from red to blue. Then we move on to installing the clamp to our helmets. After that, Andy can’t wait, and begins putting it all together. I still read out loud, as I know the boom mic will not be installed as his last. Things start coming together nicely.

Then we are back to the manual so we can understand how to work these things. There are so many options that I want to take advantage of, but for right now, we just need to talk back and forth. A few false starts and we have it where we feel we like it. Not the voice activated option. Sometime I like to sing to myself on the bike. Sometimes Andy has a few choice words when drivers cut us off. Neither of us wants to hear the other unless necessary. So we select the tap. Then we put on the helmets and move around the house testing it out. As it turns out the day is not so bad. We’re wearing helmets after all. It’s a start. And the snow can’t last forever.

Chasing Off the Winter Blues

It’s March 8th, and yes, I know the calendar does not say its spring yet, but do we have to get hammered again with another winter storm? Sure I made it to the office, but there are only five people here. The thought that has sustained me all day is that tomorrow we are heading over to the Northeast Motorcycle Expo in Wilmington Massachusetts. The next morning, as if in response to my eagerness, the sun appears and the temperatures shoot upward. Like icing on the cake, we meet up with Jan, Alan, Lee and Deb.

As motorcycle events go, this is not the largest event around, but if you’ve missed them all for one reason or another, something is better than nothing. I had money to burn in my pocket. Sadly I didn’t find anything that suited my tastes. However, Deb pointed us to a new product she stumbled upon that we found some interest in, ergonomic grips. Lee picked up a pair, and Debbie is now sporting new grips on Thor.

One aspect of any motorcycle show is the bikes in competition. Taste here is as varied as there are people. Some of these have me thinking of friends with cool cameras and the fun things to photograph. Of course there aren’t just bikes to look at. I won’t go into detail, let’s just say cleavage was involved. Then Andy spots two Amazon women. Honestly, I don’t think there are men that tall. Not only that, but if I were going to stick out in a crowd like that, I’d have selected a different outfit to wear. I’ll say this; no one was messing with ‘em.

With the afternoon rolling around, our stomachs were saying it was time for lunch. We all headed off the Whole Foods where shopping around is as much fun as visiting the cold and hot food bars with the curious assortment to select from. It’s easy to over eat because one tends to want to try a taste of everything. While Whole Foods might have interesting selections, I’m still looking forward to chasing smoke and eating BBQ. Come on spring! Where are you?