Posted by Dominic
Sun, 04 Nov 2007 03:08:00 GMT
Today, I saw an angel.
I was in the middle of nowhere, sitting on a bench outside some no-name gas station.
The car: Nondescript, with an uneven wear pattern to the left front tire. Probably out of alignment.
The girl: Young, stumbling on insecure feet, her face disfigured by some strange birth defect.
The Angel: The mother. The love she feels for her daughter is tangible - you see it in her smile, you see it in her eyes. She has one of the most gorgeous faces I have ever seen.
As she helped her daughter into the car, she signed to the girl, before walking around the car to the driver side.
“I’ll be right there, stay.”
The moment between mother and daughter was so precious - it just made me smile.
And as I smiled, our eyes met. My eyes were opened, and I could see.
There is a story there to be told - a missing father? An abusive husband? Who knows. But in the brief moment that our eyes met, I could sense there was something.
What is that something? We may never know. But what I do know, is that in the middle of nowhere… there is an angel, taking care of the most precious little girl in the world.
Posted in Daily, God, Motorcycle | Tags angel, motorcycle, riding, rosanky | no comments | no trackbacks
Posted by Dominic
Wed, 17 Oct 2007 11:49:00 GMT
As I step outside, a momentary chill envelops me. I shiver once, lock the door, and stride purposefully toward my mount.
I turn the ignition, and the big cruiser springs to life with a growl. After a few seconds of rough idling, she settles in to a low rumble.
I stretch, and finish putting on my helmet and gloves as I watch the fog swirl in the triple beams of my headlights.
First gear. I slowly roll through the fog, leaving swirling trails of emptyness behind me. The fog is so thick, I can’t hear the engine echoing off the buildings - I might as well be in the middle of nowhere. Silence and dark all around me, as I glide through the dark, an island of light.
I twist the throttle, and the powerful engine snarls as I accelerate away. I work my way through the gears, moving along like a rocket - pointed on one end, red glow from the taillights behind me.
I pull over at a gas station to fill up - even as I’m standing there under the bright lights, it feels like I’m alone out there.
I merge onto the highway and into traffic. The fog has lifted in a tunnel-shape that follows the highway… I suppose enough cars go by to continually fight it back.
I drop back into the thickness of the fog as I exit the highway. In a split second, I go from almost no fog and light to pea soup and darkness. Once again, I am a rocket, roaring through the dark.
I pull into the parking lot, and let her idle for a few minutes. The tendrils of fog caress the headlights, as if they are calling out to the machine….
“Come run with us… run….”
Posted in Just me, Motorcycle, Wandrings of the mind | Tags fog, morning, motorcycle, ride | 1 comment | no trackbacks
Posted by Dominic
Thu, 07 Jun 2007 15:51:00 GMT
What do you get when you mix 45000 motorcyclists, 11 miles of road, police escort and the permission to run every red light and stop sign along the route?
The Republic of Texas biker Rally of course.
Actually, there’s more to the rally than the friday-night parade downtown.. It appears to be three days of food, drink, women and lots (lots!) of people.
Most of which I didn’t participate in.
I did, however, participate in the Friday night parade from the Travis County Expo Center and downtown. 11 miles of (sadly) slow going, no stop signs, no red lights, and police escort.
Funfun.
The only damper to the day was that I managed to lose my helmet during all this - apparently it vibrated off the back. That’s what I get for not fastening it down better, I suppose.
On the bright side, the replacement helmet I got is much more comfortable, has better ventilation and looks just as nice.
All in all, a good weekend.
Posted in Motorcycle | Tags austin, motorcycle, parade, rally, ride, rot | 2 comments | no trackbacks
Posted by Dominic
Thu, 10 May 2007 13:42:00 GMT
About a month ago I spent the day riding my motorcycle.. Now, dear reader, you might not find this odd if you know me - as I go for rides on a semi-regular basis (At least when it’s not pouring).
The thing that was interesting about this particular day - well, you’ll find out later.
It started out as usual, heading out on 360, continuing onto 2244 (Bee Cave Road, as some call it).. This terminates into Hwy 71 which takes you to Llano, if you go far enough.
I had done that ride before. Once you pass US-281, Hwy 71 becomes really beautiful.. Hills, cliffs off in the distance, and all.. A very nice ride.
Although I did end up in Llano, it never happened like I thought it would.
Off of Hwy 71, there is a fairly well-used but not too well known road, called Hamilton Pool road.. Once past Hamilton Pool (which it actually goes to), it becomes yet-another-nondescript-farm-to-market road. Oh, but it is a great FM road. Curvy, a few hills, no traffic other than other motorcyclists.. It’s awesome.
The other end of FM-962 ends into US-281, a few miles south of Hwy 71 -and about 20 miles south of Marble Falls, home to the delicious Bluebonnet Cafe.
Originally, I was going to take US-281 back to 71, and then take 71 out to Llano (I have done this before) - however, I saw a sign that said “Johnson City 12 miles”, and at that point there was no question where to go.
I took US-281 to Johnson City, and then followed US-290 out to Fredericksburg. What a beautiful day for a ride.. Just enough sun, not too warm, and a gentle 70+ mph breeze… (Oh, wait… that’s the wind from… oh, nevermind.)
Once in Fredericksburg, I fueled up, had a drink, and then decided I’d see if I could get home by 7pm. I knew I could do it, if I turned around and went home the way I came, but I figured we’ll try some other way. I know it’s about an hour back from Llano, that means I have… oh, crap.. better get going.
The drive on Highway 16 between Fredericksburg and Llano is gorgeous.. almost more so than the drive on 71 from Llano. Long, sweeping curves, just the right amount of hills… Trees everywhere… Just awesome.
I ended up spending a grand total of 2 minutes within the Llano city limits - Just long enough to find the 71 turnoff from 16. And then headed home, riding fast.
It was on this stretch that it finally occurred to me.. I was “in the zone” - man is one with machine.. We were cutting smoothly through the air like a sharp knife… Or a paper airplane.. Everything flowed nicely, a single roar of man and machine flying low through the countryside.
And it was good.
Most of the ride home was uneventful.. I did end up being about 30 minutes later than I thought… But I still beat the sun. It was interesting, racing the shadows cast by the setting sun.. Man, machine and nature, in one combined game of hide-and-seek.
Posted in Motorcycle | Tags fredericksburg, llano, motorcycle, ride, travel | no comments | no trackbacks
