Farther On

Today was a strange day.  The morning was filled with those activities that bring our mortality into focus; blood tests and ultrasounds.  It was sunny and clear but with a hint of winter in the air.  In fact the clouds towards Buffalo looked full of snow.  The radio reported whiteouts and chain reaction accidents 100 miles north of us yesterday.  As we ate lunch in town, clouds moved in and the sun faded away like the hot summer.

When we got home the roads were still dry and the mercury was about 41 (5 for the metric types).  Hmmm,,, maybe a short run to nowhere specific.  We live very close to Niagara Falls.  “Honey I’m going to pick up a loaf of bread” close.  Maybe a run there to catch the last of the autumn leaves and the fall’s spray plume in the cold air,,,

We headed into Niagara-on-the-Lake to pick up the Niagara Parkway to follow the river.  Niagara is an off season ghost town during the week.  No crowds to push through today.  The river road was gorgeous, the leaves down or in the last stages of colour against the grey low ceilinged sky.  Running up the hill of the Niagara Escarpment, the drizzle started.  Jackson Browne on the CD is singing Running on Empty and David Lindley’s red hot Rickenbacker BR-6 lap steel is wailing as I reflect on the season that is coming to an end.

The Native Peoples associate the seasons to the points of the compass.  Cruising bikers have a similar cycle I mused.  Soon the Road Glide will be in my garage with the Battery Tender on and the fuel stabilized while I play with chrome doo dads and must haves for next season.  I will be poring over maps and tour guides plotting out the runs for next summer and making lists of places to shoot on camera.  Winter will be a time for reflection.  This fall season is the time for feeling gratitude for the bounty of the harvest, the good friends I met on the road this year and for my health that will sustain me through next season’s rides.