Bessie and Me: Shifting Gears

" Della disconnected the phone after yet another draining conversation with her daughter Crosby.  Crosby is a literary agent in NYC, married to a successful publisher. Crosby frantically juggles her career, their frenetic social obligations and two over-indulged, anxiety ridden children (Della’s grandchildren) leaving very little time for her mother. Della is convinced her daughter makes the obligatory weekly phone call just to have someone to argue with. When Della revealed her plans with Tish and Ann to leave the following week for Sedona in order to spread Bree's ashes, Crosby embarked on a litany of reasons why the trip was a stupid idea for 'three women in their late fifties who have no business riding motorcycles cross country for god sakes.' Her vitriol was damn near palatable across the large chunk of geography between New York and Chicago. Crosby was born willful; straight from the womb she cast dispersion and judgment on Della. And there were times when Della...

#MeToo   His practiced hand moved along her naked body Lying on the paper covered table In the minuscule exam room   His hair gray, his black frame glasses, perched on the tip of his nose His melodic voice murmured to her Mother As his fingers penetrated her tiny vagina   She lay frozen, her seven-year-old brain screaming NO Her seven-year-old body unable to resist   A hard nugget of shame Lodged in her gut, took up residence in her head, Made its home in her soul that day   A seven-year-old cannot define shame A seven-year-old cannot protest when The person she trusts the most stands by…mute   She mocked what the good doctor did She laughed that he probed her vagina…a word she could not utter And her Grandmother was the only one horrified   Afterward, the shame grew larger It would happen again despite her protest It would happen again despite the woman she trusted   It would happen again in the home of a trusted friend While her son took his per...

  There are times I dread the waning light of day, That golden hour which precedes the night. The night brings sad memories. The night brings old terrors. The night brings lonely hours, Sleepless hours, Blackness filled with sorrow. The darkness carries the quiet, the quiet commands the truth. The night accentuates my aloneness; it echoes my fears. The darkness makes me yearn for my children and for my loved ones long gone. The night plays a melancholy tune in my head. The night makes me yearn for the light of day when everything is new once again.                                                                                                     ~ Author: Debi Tolbert Duggar   As a...

New Orleans, LA to Tallahassee, Fl = 385 miles Tallahassee to Home = 277 "There seemed to be no cure for loneliness save only being alone." ~ John Steinbeck: Travels with Charley Long distance riding is fertile ground for daydreaming and thinking. In all my years I have not found any other activity that produces more thought than riding my motorcycle for 500 miles or so. I embrace the aloneness of solo travel; even when I'm with my Wingman, I am 'alone' on the motorcycle. I've been asked 'do you wear a headset so you can talk to each other?' NO. We will talk when we stop. I know people who listen to music while riding, not me. First of all, the music sounds horrible with 70 mph wind rushing around you. I'm too much of a music fan to ruin the melody or backbeat. Secondly, music tends to produce a little too much melancholy for me while I'm riding solo; too many memories of people, places, and experiences that I prefer to savor with just the mus...

Coppell, Texas to New Orleans, LA = 525 miles The morning I said farewell to my cousin and her husband and left Coppell I felt scattered. Morning traffic was blissfully light as I traversed the snarl of Dallas traffic. I trained my focus on navigating the plurality of road signs, confusing feeder roads, exits and overpasses that define Dallas freeways to connect with I-10 without risking life or limb. Stopped again at Bucee Beaver's in Terrell, reluctant to leave Texas.  I made another stop in Longview for coffee and a truffle (breakfast of champions). A melancholy crept over me; something was tugging at me and not letting go. Spending time with my Texas kin made me realize how scattered my family has become. Growing up in my grandparents household, I lived on the same street as several cousins and various family members. We ran in and out of each others houses with abandon. Food and discipline was parceled out in equal measures by caring adults. The lone requirement was 'to be...

"Bree was an only child of two only children. She never married and never had children of her own. Della, Tish, and Ann were her family. Bree never seemed to mind the 'only-ness' of her life. Over the years she accumulated many acquaintances, mostly through her work and travels. From the outside looking in you would say Bree had a very full life. Della often wondered what a life without family would be like. I mean, who would keep the secrets? And if your family was as bare as Bree's...would there even be secrets to keep? Without a drunk uncle, no one would have to step around the elephant in the room. Without cousins, no one would know that cousin Eloise was pregnant with another man's child when she quickly agreed to marry John. Without a sister, no one would have to hide the fact that your brother-in-law's family was polluted with alcoholics which is why they were never invited for Thanksgiving dinner.  The closets in Della's family were full of skeleton...

"Della, Tish and Ann were a little quiet today while I enjoyed the awesomeness of the Texas Hill Country." Fredricksburg, Texas and the Three Twisted Sisters = 250+/- miles Mountain Home, Texas to Coppell, Texas = 320 miles Tuesday morning was clear and cool. I cruised out of Fredricksburg on Highway 16 towards Kerrville. So many roads in the Hill Country, so little time! The Good 'Ole Texas Loop takes the traveler from Kerrville to Fredricksburg to Leakey and back to Kerrville for 150 miles of easy curves and beautiful scenery. My Wingman and I did that loop six years ago. The Gruene-Fredricksburg - Bandera Loop is 230 miles down towards San Antonio on the Bandera leg. If you travel to the Hill Country to ride, make sure you plan to stay at least three days! My goal today was to tackle the Three Twisted Sisters; the Texas Hill Country's most famous trio. Farm roads 335, 336, and 337 west of Fredricksburg. I rode Route 16 south from Fredricksburg to Kerrville then int...