Life and times right :)

Anyone know what this is??

Pretty much every spring I think back to the end of April/early May, 2005.  I was scheduled for a trip to Wetaskiwin Alberta, as part of the press tour for Reynold's Alberta Museum (RAM) upcoming opening of their 2 year exhibition entitled, Life and Times of the Motorcycle.   The museum itself for those of you that have never attended, began as a private venture that benefited from the oil boom in Alberta, and has morphed into a world class facility, housing an unbeatable collection of vintage cars, trucks, tractors, aircraft and of course, motorcycles.  L.A.s Petersen has nothing on RAM!



This particular exhibition was dedicated to motorcycles from early to latest, factory to custom, oddball to the ultra familiar.  I hope some of you attended during its run, chances are few, that such an event will take place again.  My old friend John Campbell, editor of Canadian Biker magazine out of Victoria, had asked me to write an article and provide photographs.  Unfortunately, the day of the press launch, I was laying on a slab of stainless steel, having an emergency triple bypass operation, the result of a heart attack a few days prior.  I was fifty!

BMW R 90S 1974 in Silver smoke.  Gorrrgeous!

There are lots of memories of that period in my life, some good, some bad, but if anything... those events confirmed my beliefs in doing vs watching, living vs existing, showing feelings vs hiding them in the file folder marked "miscellaneous."  Not a lot of people my age were doing what I was doing at the time... getting sawed open...

I went through many emotions and believe me, for a guy once labelled by a girlfriend to be "emotions on wheels" it was tough sledding.  Denial, anger, how did this happen, why me... pretty much had them all.  The road to recovery was made easier by helpful daughters and friends and an active mind.

Vetter inspired Hurricane triple.

It's been eight years since that fateful spring, and I feel great for the most part.  I still live my life by my golden rules, I try each day to to be grateful, thankful and thoughtful.  I go out of my way to let those close to me know that they are truly appreciated, loved and needed.  I continue to make my plans including those that mean a lot to me and move forward.  I still live by the axiom that the hardest thing to do is making the decision, after that the doing becomes easy.  Every day I try to instill something positive into my own life and those around me, even if it's only a smile or a word of encouragement.

The subsequent recovery was tough at times but nothing I'm sure like dealing with cancer or ALS, now that's tough!

Needless to say, I missed the press launch to RAM, but did get a personal tour a few months later, the article appearing in the mag soon after.  Better late than never, right...

RAM

:)  cheers.