Come Hell or High Water ...

“Come hell or high water,” it means…it will happen regardless of obstacles. It was one of my mother’s sayings… and come hell or high water the VStar will be coming home on Monday – Ross called, it’s ready. The forecast for Monday is looking worse than today and right now it’s raining so hard there are rivulets racing down the driveway pooling into small lakes behind my house. There’s definitely high water and it’ll be hell trying to get the bike through the mud slicked, rugged and rutted terrain that used to be my driveway. Yesterday of course was the perfect day to ride with a temperature of 12 under a sunny sky. Even if I had been able to pick up the VStar yesterday the shop was closed. Motorcycle mechanics deserve a holiday every now and then too.



"Never stop dancing..."

The reason this old "hell and high water" saying came to mind, aside from today’s miserably poor weather, was that yesterday I spent most of the day on a little outing with my 93 year old mother. We went to her older sister’s birthday party. In all honesty, as amazing as the two of them are, both still living independently and going strong I was even more amazed when the table behind me filled with ‘the out of town’ cousins. The youngest at the table (of that generation - there were 8 in all) was a sprite 88 the oldest 98 … one was using a walker and was having a little problem with his sight but the conversation at their table would have rivaled, if not been more interesting than any group in the room. It was an exciting conversation of old times and fond memories of the birthday gal yes, but also of adventures lived, politics and today’s world issues. 91 year old Jack, I’m proud to say had only given up riding his motorcycle a few years ago (we chatted once about the cross Canada motorcycle tour he made in his 80s) and 98 year old Harold (actually from the generation before, being an uncle rather than cousin – I think) thought that having given up jogging two years ago was a terrible mistake and is planning to start running again. Harold’s advice will stick with me, “If you run, don’t stop … and never stop dancing!” Harold is a retired dentist, runner and former competitive sailboat racer. (Harold and his wife drove back to Ottawa, Harold at the wheel, in their lovely late model Pryus.)

Motorcycle Rider Jack (MD)
retired.

Monday’s weather is still looking ugly – Looks like it’ll be about 15 ° and a whole lot of rain away from being a comfortable ride home. It’s one thing to take your first, winter rusty ride under clear skies on dry pavement – it will be a whole other ride with cold rain and slick road conditions - I’ll be using even more caution. Hey, I think it stopped raining, no, just my imagination!