For a guy who was such a sleepy-head the first half of his life, I have sure turned out to be an early riser in the later stages of this ongoing drama… Oh well, after putting a pot of ebony miracle fluid on, I went out on the porch before dawn to do my usual start-up meditation and to allow my mind some quiet time to come to terms with the fact it was no longer going to be at rest. I suppose my early-riser-hood is, therefore, more of a physical thing than a mental one after all… Hmmm, that would tend to explain a lot of things… anyway…

Now, at my new, sort of, residence we have a situation not uncommon to many middle-class Americans… too many vehicles and other stuff, but not nearly enough garage space to hold it all… Since there are two rather nice late model cars with only a two-car garage available, obviously, some triage of a sort has become necessary… And, ALI being the most senior vehicle by more than a decade, well, she is the one that drew the short straw and gets left outside. It helps that I also have a cover for her… It also helps that this is usually a circumstance of only short duration…

Well, proximity comes into play anytime I’m sitting on the porch… From the chair that I sit in, I can look straight ahead and see our bike comfortably resting on her kickstand… and looking directly back at this absent-minded and occasionally neglectful rider of that now famous Valk.

We do communicate openly, frankly, and frequently. In our own silent but distinctly intelligible language that we use with each other, but make no mistake about it, we do share feelings, aspirations, issues… stuff just like any other couple does… She appeared to be brooding, and she made it clear she had a bothersome feeling to share with me… I inquired…

Ever since we’d returned from our most recent trek, more than three weeks ago, now, we’d only been out one time, and that only for a day ride. Even though we’d taken a long cut going and coming to and from the Florida Valk riders’ picnic gathering at Salt Springs, we’d still barely managed to log a meager hundred miles… She was getting stiff in her joints, she informed me, and she was also feeling neglected… Any chance for some relief, she pleaded?… Funny you should ask, I responded…

I’d been corresponding with my cousin/brother in No Head City, NC, the day before, and we’d agreed I’d drop by there as soon as I departed Alabama later in the week. I had to return to Bama, because one of the three doctors with whom I’d had an appointment the week before had had to cancel… I’d rescheduled another visitation for this coming Friday.

I’d been forced to take my car on the previous junket due to rain, but it appeared a weather window might be opening for this upcoming venture… opening ever so slightly, though… Close, to be sure, but PMS being what it is, I’d decided I was willing to take the risk… ALI was so proud of me, she exclaimed! Quite relieved, too, she added…

I hate to impose upon anybody, and I hate to appear to ‘invite myself’ to someone else’s home… I’d mentioned that to Nick and that I didn’t want to just barge in… He’d responded that I would not be barging in… I would merely be coming home! Dang!

That sure does sound nice. We’ve shared a roof before a couple of times early in life, and he’d even lived with me briefly in Bama a couple of years ago, … In between we’ve continued to visit with each other…

He refers to his place as ‘The House of Harmony’, and that is indeed a very fitting name for it! No arguments, fussing, rude or obnoxious behavior is ever allowed. Things always have a serene, ‘everything is OK’ feel to it, and… if you didn’t know better, you might suspect we were home, home on the range there… Where never is heard a discouraging word…

Now ALI and I are confronted with another dilemma… I still haven’t changed her oil & filter from the last trip… Of course, I know I should just go ahead and take care of business. I have already been to the various places to acquire all the needed stuff, so all that remains is simply to execute the task.

Sounds simple enough, but… Do you recall me ever mentioning that I am, among other things, a life-long procrastinator? Of course, I may not have ever gotten around to actually mentioning that, so if I haven’t, I do apologize… Anyway, I am…

This is a perfect situation tailor-made for one such as I… I could simply carry a filter with me, I reasoned, do another purchase of oil and a catch/drain pan in No Head City, and then perform the task in Nick’s garage. It was even easy to rationalize this to be a good idea! Yep, I would then have the pan available there for future use… Practical, too, as I do go there a couple of times a year and the need will surely arise again down the road sometime.

Also, a good idea because it would allow me to put another thousand miles or so on this not all that old oil, thereby leaving the new oil even fresher for the next leg of our upcoming winter campaign… No, we don’t have a plan just yet on where we might be going… but… we will be leaving Nick’s at some point, and we don’t particularly want to return to domestic activities…

And, I most surely don’t want to plant my tookus in that conniving, ever-plotting recliner for the rest of the winter! I know it’s wanting to lure me into doing that very thing, so I must remain strong and fight it… hard… I’m going to go put an oil filter in my travel bag right now! Yep, a penchant for procrastination is paying off… again… It’s a gen-u-ine comfort to know this cloud has a silver lining…

ALI and I are currently in a lamentable situation… PMS and all that… However, unlike my winter-bound pals up north and my work-bound pals everywhere, our situation is about to change for the better! Starting tomorrow morning, we’ll be back on the road again… doing what we do… Yep, we’ll be visiting friends, taking care of business, exploring America, seeking adventure everywhere along the way… Just taking things as they come, all the while living large and loving life!