This morning as I laid beneath several blankets & quilts, impatiently waiting for my space heater to work it's magic, I was fondly remembering the feel of summer grass under my bare feet, smells of BBQ in the backyard with family & friends, the warm summer breezes, being out in the sun with my horse, and of course, riding my Harley. I just checked the weather on my phone.... it's a balmy four degrees Fahrenheit outside, albeit sunny. And the only thing I smell outside is the salt on the roads.
Not that I'm complaining at all about this winter! To date it has been very mild according to local standards. Northern New York winters are legend with snow fall amounts that can sometimes be as much as a two story house!! Having said that, I'm still tired of waiting for the salt & sand to be off the roads and the temps to warm up to a minimum of 45 degrees before I even think about getting Saraid (that's my Harley-Davidson Dyna Superglide's name - it's Irish and it's means "excellent") out of the garage.
So until that day comes, hopefully soon, the best things I can do to keep myself sane are to read books (call me old fashion but I've yet to fall in love with any electronic reader), watch movies, blog, work at a motorcycle dealership, go out with friends & co-workers, chillin' in the house with my teen aged kids, and hanging out with my B.O.B. Sisters. Due to our various schedules, we may not be able to get us all together all at the same time at the same place, but we make do with what we can - even if it's just two of us for a quick dinner. The great thing about it is that during the time I'm with my other B.O.B. Sisters I can be myself! During that time I'm not Mom, co-worker, manager, a women in her forties, an army wife, an event planner, a female motorcyclist or anything else. The B.O.B. Sisters have accepted me for me and I have accepted them for who they are, so when we get together we don't even have to worry about having a good time - we just do! I have found that, for me, it's almost as relaxing as riding.
"During the fall and winter we built Fort Meade and the town of Sturgis." by Calamity Jane.
Now, for those of you who may not know, Sturgis, South Dakota is the scene of a very large motorcycle rally every August, during the height of summer riding season. Calamity Jane has always been one of my favorite characters in history - she was the life of the party and made do in life with what she was given. After the death of her father (her mother had died one year earlier) Jane found herself the head of her family of 5 siblings. To support them she found work as a cook, dishwasher, waitress, dance hall girl, as a prostitute at Fort Laramie Three-Mile Hog Ranch and as a scout for the military. Finding out that Calamity Jane may have had something to do with building the town of Sturgis just called to me. (Jane was often found to 'embellish' her own history.) Whether or not she was actually involved, it was a nice reminder to me that many good things can happen during the winter months, even though I'm not riding. And perhaps Calamity Jane would have made an excellent addition to our B.O.B. Sisters!!
