On The Road Again

There was a time in my life when I ate, drank, slept, worked, and played motorcycles. I have owned more bikes than I have well fitting underwear. I have ridden more miles than the average motorcyclist will ride in a life time. I had never imagined my life without motorcyles. That was a life time ago.

Last week when visiting my in-laws, I borrowed my father in-laws' bike and went for a ride. It was the first time I went for a leisure ride for 8 years. It was every bit as much fun as I remembered. And it also made me aware of how sloppy my driving had been when compared to riding, when all of the little self-defense techniques started to fall back into place. Being a rider gives you a much sharper awareness of dangers on the road, and my not riding has certainly dulled that edge.

Then the next day, I took Cameron out for his first ride. We have been talking about that for years. And he took to it like duck to water. By the end of our first ride, Cameron was hanging like a seasoned veteran. And he loves it. He has been going with his grand-father on his weekly rides, and he can't get enough. I see some family riding in the future.

I told this to a riding friend of mine the other night, and he said to me: "I don't think I would introduce my kids to motorcycles. Doesn't that make you a bad parent?" Without hesitation, my response was: "You can't shelter kids from every possible danger in the world. You can only teach kids about them." I can only hope that Cameron uses that head on his shoulders.

The Accidental Tourist

OK. So we kept the bird. Her name is Bella Donna. She has taken over.

Bella likes to be fed by hand while sitting on your shoulder. If you provide her with the incorrect substance, she is happy to scream at you until you give her what she wants. And, of course, we are suckers and give in. Her favorite food is whatever you are eating. She likes to sit at the table and eat with everyone else. Bella also likes to be present whenever there is any cooking going on. She will sit in her cage, calling to us to let her out to join the fun.

She loves to taunt other animals into chasing her. Dogs, cats, children. She isn't picky. She has even chased/ been chased by the ceiling fan.

James and I have endeavored, with each of the animals, to get them used to travelling in the car. That way, trips to the vet aren't so traumatic, for the animal or us. Bella has now been in the car 5 or 6 times and behaves like a dog the whole time. She wants to see where we are going and she chirps questions to us about the trip the whole way along.

Because our trip to Los Angeles was going to last for a week, we were forced to bring Bella with us on vacation. She is not yet fully grown, and immature birds get very wild if they do not have consistant attention paid to them daily. Much to my suprise, Bella is a traveller. She is also a Houdini.

While driving back home. Bella and Declan were having a bit of an arguement and it was getting loud. Well, we can't put a blanket over the baby to shut him up, so we put one over Bella's cage. A few minutes later I heard some flapping from the seat behind me. I looked back to see what was up, and there was Bella, sittng on James' headrest! She had not only managed to open the cage door, she had tuneled out from under the blanket and inbetween the cage and the baby's car seat! There was no way we could get her back in her cage and she was content to stay on the headrest quietly. She drove in the navigator position for about an hour and a half before she went back into her cage to eat. The whole time she looked at me with an expression of utter challenge. She made it very clear that she would go "home" when she was good and ready and there was nothing I could do about it.

Perhaps the bird was sent to us so that we could practice for when the kids hit adolesence.