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Girl Neglected


I could hear my girl Bessie calling to me this morning at ‘oh-dark-thirty’ as I slid into my car , ....it was a mournful sound of a woman neglected!  Between work and the weather, the opportunity to ride has been slim; we fixed that this eve! 

I couldn’t wait to get away from school today for two reasons - 1.) I have the chance to talk to the new man in my life who happens to be an entire continent away at the moment, and 2.) I promised myself if it was NOT storming when I left school, Bessie and I were riding!  The beginning of this school year has been the roughest start I’ve had to school in several years; great kids, great school, new administration, and lots of changes as we shift to Common Core....Ms. D. has been feeling off center and needed to chew up several miles of asphalt to feel ‘centered’ again.

Found Him!
A quick ‘good-bye,’ and a quick change of clothes and Teacher Chick was transformed to Biker Chick...I felt almost guilty as I uncovered poor Bessie who has sat neglected for a few weeks. I gave her a gentle and loving rub down with the McGuire’s and within seconds she had a shine that we were both proud of!  And you know....no matter how long I am forced to let her sit (because it is never a choice to let my bike sit), she turns over with gusto the first time I flip the start button....like her owner, always rarin’ to go!

I only had an hour before I was expected at dinner with my Daisies; headed out through Lake Alfred to Dean Still Road. Always a pleasure to grab some of those curves that  wind through the very edge of the Green Swamp; with each twist and turn, my centered returned and the slightest glimmer of stress that had started to appear, thought better of it. Then I circled back around to 27 where I could jump on I-4 and really give Bessie the chance to clear out her exhaust! Traffic wasn’t too heavy, so I found a clear spout and squeezed the throttle......70, 80.....yeah baby......one more click and I will have felt like I at least ‘looked for the edge’ this eve.....90mph and there it was ...my center again. All is right with my Universe. And for the briefest of moments, I held the throttle tight, flirting with danger, afraid to ease up, afraid to go faster, suspended at that precise moment with the wind, the noise of the engine, and the vibration underneath me where I am one with my Bessie.  Ahhhhhh.....it is so true: “You never see a motorcycle parked outside of a Psychiatrists’ office.”

I promise I will not let you sit for another two weeks....I know how important it is for a girl to be rode hard every now and then!



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