WHERE has the year gone?
Does is seem to anyone else that as youngsters, we couldn't wait to "grow up? It seemed at age 9 or 10, birthdays were few and far between. Waiting until we'd be a teen and then an adult, time was like watching a can of 40 weight oil sitting outside at 40 below.
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| Newly installed heat exchanger |
Somewhere in my thirties, maybe during my divorce, it seemed I'd caught a higher gear and began accelerating. The first half of my life was Motorcycle training for CSC* then motorcycle racing and ultimately a career as an independent dealer selling Suzuki in one of my three stores and Kawasaki and Yamaha in all three stores.
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Very pretty Spring Valley
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I had two girls who are now both new mothers living at opposite ends of the country and in fact the younger one in southern New Brunswick Canada just a handful of miles from the USA, and my elder girl living in Seattle, just a handful of miles to southern B.C. Canada on opposite coasts.
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| Getting my grand son started, no time like the present! |
Normally here on PEI, we don't see any snow until Christmas eve and often not into the new year.
For a couple of weeks now we've been hit with rain, snow and stiff near hurricane wind. Just this week nearly the entire Island was hit with power outages that in one case, lasted the entire day and into the following night. We do have an auxiliary gasoline generator with a service lock-out just in case it lasts into days which it did a few years ago. Of course we also have some of the simplest devises know to man... candles. Not only useful on romantic dinner nights (which seem to be getting fewer each year...) but in the case of a power outage, you know you can count on that old wax and wick thing and a match.
It's not been cold out and I still regularly walk our road, but of course for a guy born to ride two wheels, having to store my motorcycles for several months every year is a painful experience!
Can't do anything about the seasonal change.
I did however after many years, bring my two vintage trials bikes into the garage, for what I am hoping for will be a winter/spring overhaul. I'm planning to taking them down to the frames, doing some restoration work, and having them ready to ride by spring '19.
The TY 175 Yamaha is probably the 5th or 6th TY ranging from the 80 cc model up to the air cooled 350 and all in between. I'm not a trials professional but I do like to "putter" at times. The TL 125 Honda I got on a trade from a local (Ducati riding) enthusiast
My Big Bear has been kitted with the snow plow once again and has already seen several call outs. It has paid for itself several times over during the 6 years living on the Island.
The remainder of my bikes sit under tarps inside, out of the elements... batteries patiently waiting for their turn on the charger.
As
I write this, it's hovering near zero C and the sun is peeking over the horizon. I've been up for hours, I'm sure the Sunday morning coffee has perked itself and I'll be heading upstairs from my little office, to a
cuppa and muffin.
I do like early morning summer or winter I must confess, that time when things are still and quiet, blue Jays coming by to load up on bread crumbs and provide some entertainment for the cats, especially little Miss Izzy.
For you that live in similar climates as I, keep the water kettle on simmer, get some maintenance done on whatever you ride, and plan for the soon to be 'new year.'
Ciao ciao...
*Canada Safety Council
