I can't seem to resist updating the blog once a year or so. Motorcycle-wise, the '05 Kawasaki Mean Streak sits in the garage, idle and for sale. It's replacement is a '98 Honda Valkyrie, a truly wonderful motorcycle even at 20 years old. I never really got to feeling at home on the big Kaw but the Valkyrie suited me immediately. The big, glorious and shiny Honda flat 6 engine is a wonder, as all Gold Wing engines are, and the cruiser style of the bike is classic framing of the gorgeous engine. I like the big Valk very much and wish I'd have thought to try one about three or four bikes ago.
In other news, I got married at the end of 2016. A good friend asked me early in that year "What are you looking for in a woman?" I wistfully, or perhaps cynically replied "A woman who loves motorcycles, photography, dogs, and guns." "Yeah" said my friend, "Good luck with THAT!" And we both laughed. Such women live with herds of unicorns in far off and exotic places and so can never be discovered. But to my amazement such a woman wandered into my life; she saw my bird photographs on Facebook and was impressed enough to send me a private note. We met up only to talk photography and she proved to be quite real -- and also young and pretty. We were married 6 months later. It would be grand to win the lottery, but finding Stina is much better.Late in 2017 Stina signed up for and passed the MSF Basic Rider Course and a few months later bought her first bike, a 2003 Kawasaki 500 Ninja. The little Ninja wouldn't have been the bike I'd have chosen for her but she sat on countless machines and that's the one that rung her bell so that's the one she bought. She is her own woman and while I kibitzed a good bit about what bike to buy, the final choice was all hers, as it should be.
So on we go towards 53 years on two wheels for me and 1 year on two wheels for her. Life is good.
