... having decided the temporary fixes i'd made weren't all that safe, i drove down to north kingston to get some replacement mirrors for my motorcycle ... while i was there i spent over an hour conversing with one of the senior staff members, a very elderly motorcycle rider ... "i've owned and ridden dozens and dozens of bikes in my lifetime, but of all of them a bmw f650cs like yours was one of my two favorites" ... confirming my own feelings about the machine, that was a nice thing to hear ... and, yes, he also agreed that the bike's styling puts it pretty much at the top of the ugly/weird list ... after leaving the shop i wandered east to west across rhode island from route one to route three ... since i'd forgotten to eat breakfast, and with my blood sugar dropping to the "shouldn't be operating machinery" level, i stopped at mcdonalds for a sandwich and bargain glass of ice coffee ... then i decided to go on one of ma's favorite drives, the harkney hill road—perry hill road—narrow lane—hopkins hill road—lewis farm road—flat river road circuit ...
... all narrow winding roads, in some places unpaved, a tree-lined backwoods route which magically belies the fact that rhode island is one of the most densely populated places in the country ... ma loved this drive ... while i drove slowly, she would look out the window, commenting on the "nice houses" tucked in the forest, often telling me stories about she and pa "would come here to picnic" or how "my friend use to live in that house over there" ... return to the car after stopping to take a picture, i'd often find her taking a little nap ... "wake up, ma, we're off again" ... she'd smile, "i was just enjoying the sunshine" ...
... this is an "olden time" part of rhode island, as the name on the sign indicates much of the landscape still delineated by borders that date back to the early 1600s ...
... in autumn's paradox, that within a single leaf can be found all the color of the entire forest, we are reminded that we do not find beauty, it is created when we take the time to look for it ...
... a bit of playing around in photoshop, if only to spend more time with the color ...
... ma, born and raised on a tropical island, always admired the tall pines ... from the comments she would make i think they brought to her wonderful memories of the years we lived in alaska ...
... somewhere along the road in greene i pulled over and parked my bike at the edge of a field ... removing my helmet and jacket, i sat upon a centuries old stone wall and cried ... not sad tears, rather, simply the admission that there are times it's okay to wish life worked in two directions ...