Thursday morning I rode the flyway into work for the first time in over a month. The winter weather has been unusually harsh this year with snow and ice lying on the ground for weeks rather than our normal few days. Oh, there have been a few breaks, but they have occurred on weekends or when there has been a threat in the forecast that kept me off two wheels.

It had been a fine ride. As we left home the temperature was thirty-seven degrees, thirty-four at the halfway point in Lawrence, and about thirty-five at our destination in Topeka. The roads were mostly dry with just an occasional hint of melt.

There were four toll gates operating at the Topeka exit. As I approached the toll plaza the leftmost booth opened up. It was the only one unoccupied so I nudged the Dragon in its direction. I wondered if I might get Derrick this morning as he seems to prefer the booth nearest the station in the median. Derrick doesn’t usually have much to say.

It was not Derrick, but Karen who was manning the booth as I rolled to a stop. I greeted her with my usual enthusiasm.

“Good morning, Karen! How are you?”

“Hey! Where have you been? I haven’t seen you for a long time.”

She hung the phone on its hook. She seemed genuinely concerned over my absence.

“We’ve had way too much snow, haven’t we?”

I handed her the toll ticket.

You been in a car?”

I placed my trademark one dollar coin into her hand.

“Yeah.”

I heard someone yell to my right and turned to see Derrick standing in the door of his booth. He waved and motioned to his right. I returned his greeting. Mitch was standing just behind Derrick’s third booth giving me an exuberant wave. Mitch rides a black Harley.

Karen placed the quarter and nickel into my palm, “I haven’t seen you here.”

“I go through the K-tag lane.”

She picked up the phone, “He has a K-tag.” I deduced that D.J. must be in the rightmost booth.

“We don’t like it when our favorite customers get K-tags.”

We conversed briefly about what a fine day it would be to ride and the joy with which we were both looking to the soon arrival of Spring while I pulled the glove back onto my left hand and two cages stacked up behind me. We each smiled and wished one another the best of days before I was on my way.

There was one other of my acquaintances waiting at the toll plaza that morning. Just beyond the booths the cruiser of a Kansas state trooper rested along the right shoulder keeping watch over the steel and rubber surge flowing away from the five slotted spillway.

I did play the pipes as the Dragon and I did run up to full merge velocity, but this morning, unlike some, I played them very smoothly and with almost quiet grace.

Yep, the Dragon does draw a good deal of attention and who knows whether it is my pretty face, the magnificent beast that carries me, or the joyful nature of my greeting that sticks in the memories of those friends with whom I spend just a few short seconds now and then.

Keep a smile in your pocket and a laugh in your eyes. One friend is worth a whole passel of acquaintances.