SUNSET SAILING and MOONLIGHT RIDING

I would expect that a sunset sail across Buzzards Bay for dinner at The Chart Room (on Cape Cod) would be the perfect conclusion to a fine day. It can be, and yet it can fall short of the perfection of a sunset in the mountains while on a motorcycle tour.

Please think me not a dismisser of fine sailing and the sea. Those who know me know that I treasure these things.

Yet now, in the brilliance of tonight's full moon shining down I am reminded of so many sunsets and moonsets not on the sea but on the land. I remember camping in the desert with a moon so big it seemed to fill the sky. I recall sleeping on Cape Breton beaches neath moons so bright it was hard to remain asleep. I see evenings in Alaska when the moon fought hard with the summer sun to find a place in the late night sky.

There are hundreds of full moons I recall seeing while cruising on motorcycles. Few, however, hold the magic I now see in tonight's moon.

There is magic happening, and I know not where or why. I will trust the universe to set things right. I feel ready for a new life, a life filled with adventure and simplicity. There's too little of that in my world lately.

I am ready for my moon.

A Green Wave

On a Green Wave
Originally uploaded by maruchan313.

A few weeks ago I went Body Surfing. No it wasn't that spectacular stuff we see on television when nubiles grab huge tubes off the coast of Hawaii -- it was more like swishing into the path of a small swell off the coast of Maine. Indeed, it was cold but very refreshing.

Temperature and size are not the issue here. The simple act of swimming out to the point break and then dashing toward shore to catch 15 seconds of rapture is what I'm talking about. That's the magic of "Catching a Green Wave."

Truth be known the ocean up here is cold. Truth continuing, as it should always, body surfing in our cold New England seas is worth every effort. When you're done you know you've enjoyed an excellent day. You've melded with the ocean, and that's pretty good, no?

Hay Rides

Montana sky
Originally uploaded by Jodene.

The fields are full of mown hay -- bales, rolls, stacks, and mounds abound.

The air is pungent with a grassy perfume.

Two months of great riding remain before the gales of November and the snows of December set upon us. Get out and ride friends.

Breathe in the organic air of late summer/early fall. Its simplicity is more than pleasant. It is seductive.

Belgium at Night

Orange & blue
Originally uploaded by Jason's Travel Photography.

I remember Belgium. After a ferry crossing of the English Channel my Triumph 650 and I headed north to Belgium as I many years ago commenced a Continental Tour .

My strongest memories are of the people and architecture of Belgium. I don't recall eating Belgian Waffles: I do recall dining with fine wines and yummy meals.

The architecture, however, stands out strongest in my mind. Canals, colorful manses, tall steeples, these I remember so well.

Then it was on to the Netherlands for me. Looking back I wish I had stayed just a few days more. The young man rushes. The wise man pauses to look deeply into the soul of each place and its people.

Orange Sun -- Salty Sea

Buena pesca
Originally uploaded by GomoX.

The sun and the sea - - a marriage of light and liquid creating a perfect day's beginning and end. Every motorcycle ride should begin or end at such times and places.

Ride into the mountains but begin at the sea.

Ride through farmlands and lakes and end at the sea.

Start or finish with a plunge into an ocean gloamed in the orange light of transition. You are reborn and ready to ride again.

TREATS ON THE ROAD

Berries
Originally uploaded by ·júbilo·haku·.

This is the northern season when berries of all species explode aside scenic twisting backroads and byways. A stop to investigate, nay to pick makes a long day's ride tasty beyond compare.

A recent spirited blast through Crawford Notch suprised me with yummy roadside blueberries, glistening blackberries, and a few other little treats. The sweet feast broke up an otherwise gorgeous yet hot daylong cruise to the Maine coast. It was surely a pause that refreshed.

Wouldn't it be nice if these tiny treats of nature flourished all year long.