Saturday, July 21, 2012

Lil' Blue lost

Today's record high was 107, but I still managed to find some quality time this afternoon riding my '07 Honda Metropolitan 50 cc scooter (I call it Lil' Blue because its royal blue and white) for almost 2 hours along some of the back county roads here in Johnson County between Joshua and Godley. All mostly cattle & horse ranches or middle of nowhere double wide trailer homes and some agroindustrial spots too. This scoot doesn't go more than 35-40 mph, so I don't get on even the busier FM roads and especially not the state highways, traffic is almost non-existent which allows me to take my time and enjoy the ride! I'm just beginning as a scooterist, and I also have a '12 Suzuki Burgman 650 which I call "the Beast", but Lil' Blue is the scoot I am most comfortable on the public streets. (The Beast and I are still getting acquainted and do all of our practicing on the parking lot of the high school for now). Anyway, Lil' Blue and I try to never take the same roads, and stay on the roads that allow for slightly slower traffic, and before too long, I had gone about 10 miles down to the city of Godley. Stopped for a booty break at the city park, for a few minutes in the shade, and then off again back home. Only one close encounter with a dog this trip. He was a medium sized dog that lives on a corner lot and I turned onto one of the side streets at his house only to find it was mostly gravel (never a friend of scoots). He was barking but not sounding threatening, so I raised my face shield and started talking to him to let him know I wasn't afraid, but that I also wasn't going to stick around. As I was turning back around, I heard some rustling along the fence line, and all of a sudden there the dog was on MY side of the fence. I didn't panic, but I didn't stop either. I just kept talking to him as I was accelerating, and then I was gone. I feel a little cooked this evening, but not terribly sunburned. Was glad to get home to ice cold water and AC, but really felt like I had a great time out and about with Lil' Blue! Never a wrong turn is a very good thing! Til next time...:o)

Monday, July 16, 2012

I miss my other passions less and less these days...

Not too long ago, before my scoots came to inhabit my world, I was supremely passionate about 2 things...directing and playing in the handbell choir at my church, and all things Tudor dynasty (but specifically ANYTHING regarding Elizabeth I). I have many fiction and non-fiction books on the Tudors and most all movies and TV dramas (Glenda Jackson is hands down the BEST QE I on film!!! Sorry Cate Blanchett!)

But what had previously been able to drown out the Tudors in my brain was the bell choir! I've been the director/player since January '07 and have LOVED every minute of my time helping to develop a beginner-level choir (and I have no serious musical background other than a few years of piano and 3 years of viola, all ending before high school) I've retained the ability to read music, and I know what music I like. That's pretty much my credentials when I started directing. The previous director, who is also the choirmaster and organist, was ready to end the bell choir after I had only been the bell choir a few months. My sister-in-law, who was in a bell choir at her church in Virginia, had gotten me interested in the idea of learning how to ring. I walked into a rehearsal at my church and announced that I was interested in learning, and voila! After about 10 minutes of tutoring me on how to do a basic ring,  I was in like Flynn! I love listening to handbell demo DVD's to preview music for the choir, and I love the ladies (not on purpose, but my choir is all ladies right now...2 sets of grandmothers and their granddaughters and my mom among them!) We have improved in our ringing skills and abilities over the years and now the challenge I face is finding music for us at our current skill level that will keep the girls challenged but not intimidated. I am proud as all get out to have let the girls know we've got our first paying gig!! We'll be ringing at our first wedding in December!! As I'm writing this, I'm getting the bell fevah back a bit more!! :o) The Tudor fevah is next in line!! :o) Till next time...!

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Beginning at last

So this is my maiden voyage into the Blogesphere...I've been wanting to do this for a long time...I am a newbie to the world of scooters, but I am most enthusiastic about my future in this world!! I have been riding as a full time passenger on my husband's 2 Yamaha V-Maxes for almost 20 years and we LOVE riding together down back country roads around where we live in N. Central Texas, but we were both feeling that it was time for me to get my own ride! I took the MSF Motorcycle Basic Safety Class on May 19-20 and passed riding a scooter that they provided ('03 Honda Metropolitan 50 cc). I had never ridden any two-wheeled motorized vehicle ever in 33 years of driving, so I was glad they provided a scoot and that it was a small one!

Two days later, we found an '07 Honda Met at a garage sale around the corner frm our house and brought it home for me to practice on (I named it Lil Blue!). I took the written test for my Texas motorcycle license endorsement on May 27 and passed that too! Two days later, my husband left for a solo vacation to Missouri, but made a stop at his favorite motorcycle shop outside of Little Rock, AR and bought me a 2012 Suzuki Burgman 650 Executive scooter (aka as a step-through motorcycle with an automatic transmission!) He didn't tell me he was going to purchase anything like that on this trip, so that when he pulled into the driveway later that week, with a U-haul trailer that he did NOT leave town with, his backstory was that he brought back furniture from his mom. I didn't think anymore about it until he asked me if I wanted to see some baby photos of him from his mom! He opened up the U-haul, and there was this shiny scooter that was all mine!!!! Sneaky pete!! He pulled it off!! I've named the Burgman "The Beast" because it is big and heavy and there's quite a difference between how the Beast handles and how Lil Blue maneuvers. My hubby has been riding motorcycles for 40 years and he is my rider coach!! We are spending a great deal of time in the parking lot of the local high school getting me acquainted with my Beast before we feel like I'll be safe on the city streets or even the back country roads. I am nervous and confident at the same time. I know I can conquer the Beast, but it's just going to take time. Lil' Blue can only go a top speed of 40 mph (the Beast can do 90 +) and because we live in the country, there are only certain roads that have a speed limit slow enough to ride Lil' Blue on, but I still enjoy getting out as much as I can...so much for my maiden blogging voyage! I'm planning on doing much more of this, but for tonight, it needs to be lights out!! Til the next time...:o)