What a Celebration...! - Part One

For me the trip "home" for the 105th anniversary celebration of Harley-Davidson in Milwaukee, the city of my birth, was breeze - literally and figuratively, but regardless of the short distance I traveled to be there every day, I wouldn't have missed it for anything in the world!!

Roger & I started the weekend last Wednesday with a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert at Washington County Fairgrounds in West Bend, WI, another short 45 mile ride for us. We arrived about 30 minutes before the show to the staggering sight of what looked like 100,000 motorcycles, and I know what 100,000 bikes looks like from Sturgis and Daytona. All of those motorcycles in one spot was nothing short of utter awesomeness!! Such a sight also convinced us that it would be near impossible to find the group of friends we had planned to meet.

The concert was great, even though I only caught occasional glimpses of the stage & band, they sounded fantastic - and yeah, I know, some folks take issue with the fact that they aren't the original group, but it's hard to tell by listening to them. That massive crowd was excited, entertained & pleased and there was no problem getting a cold beer - unlike the problem of not finding our friends, despite cell phone contact attempts - but we did run into a cousin and his family, whom I haven't seen in a couple of years!!

We made it home well before midnight, which was a good thing - my youngest was returning from a San Francisco trip and I agreed to be at the airport by 4:30AM - ugh!

Birth of the Salsa Ingredients

It's happening...the vegetables are becoming ripe for the picking - I'm so excited!! So far the peppers and onions are slightly ahead of the tomatoes, so the peppers will wait in the freezer for a week or so. Too bad too, because the days have been cooler than usual for this time of year and I would have done some canning this week, but oh well.

Got the bike all scrubbed up and shiny for the much anticipated Harley-Davidson 105th anniversary festivities, which begin tomorrow evening, so you know where I'll be and what I'll be doing until late Saturday night - bikes, camera, music... woo-hoo!!

My future riding partner is now crawling in a forward motion and according to her Mom, she's fast as lightening & full speed ahead - be no time at all before she's ready to ride - I'm most excited about that eventual event!!

8.08.08

A historic date it was and not just from a numerology standpoint, although some interesting stuff depending on how you feel about numerology, but mainly because the Summer Olympics kicked off in Beijing, China with the opening ceremony and the torch in tact!

Me, I spent most of the day riding and photographing anything in my path. And yes, it was another brilliant, warm sun, puffy cloud, ride your socks off Wisconsin summer day!

8.8.08 was brought to my attention earlier in the week by a post via my most recent addiction, Flickr, so I had to go out and do my part - take pictures of stuff related to 8, at least I think that was the challenge. No matter, it gave me license to enjoy my favorite colors, blue sky, green fields, red barns and blacktop, plus I found a couple of new roads; very little traveled ones and one very untraveled road which I was freakishly compelled to explore, even ignoring a Road Closed sign, two barricades, four cones and caution tape (secret stuff down that one!).


Spent the evening uploading to Flickr and researching 8.8.08 - I had to know if I was missing "the point". Turns out I wasn't, but did gain a brief history lesson. Here are some of the significant past events that also occurred on an August 8th. (2 x 8 = more than enough information, but...)

• A tornado touched down in Kings County, New York, August 8, 2007, the most powerful tornado in New York to date.
• On August 8, 2000 a Confederate submarine was raised to the surface after 136 years on the ocean floor.
• Iraq President Saddam Hussein announced that Iraq annexed Kuwait and U.S. President Bush (H.W.) sent American troops to Saudi Arabia to force Iraqi troops out of Kuwait August 8, 1990.
• The lights were turned on at Wrigley Field for the first time, making it the last major league stadium to host night games August 8, 1988.
• President Nixon made his resignation speech August 8, 1974.
• A gang of 15 men stole more than £2.6 million in the Great Train Robbery of England August 8, 1963.
• August 8, 1962 Elizabeth Ann Duncan becomes the last woman to be executed in the United States prior to the reintroduction of capital punishment in 1977.
• World War II and Russia declared war on Japan August 8, 1945.
• Workers went on strike at the Hoover Dam August 8, 1931 .
• The Battle of Amiens during World War I began August 8, 1918.
• On August 8, 1911 the millionth patent was filed in the United States Patent Office by Francis Holton for a tubeless vehicle tire.
• Wilbur Wright made his first flight at a Le Mans, France race course on August 8, 1908. It's was the Wright Brothers' first public flight.
• Thomas Edison received a patent for his mimeograph on August 8, 1876.
• Joseph Whidbey and George Vancouver lead an expedition to search for the Northwest Passage near Juneau, Alaska on August 8, 1794.
• The city of Oulu, Finland was founded by Charles IX of Sweden on August 8, 1605.
• Sweden was defeated by Estonian tribes in the Battle of Lihula August 8, 1220.

I've read that a record number of Asian marriages will take place on 8.8.08 because the number 8 is considered to be lucky and a sign of prosperity. 8's on their sides look like the infinity symbol.

12.12.12 will be the last repeating digit date until the year 3001 - I'm pretty sure I'll be riding that day!

Afternoon at the beach with family

Spent a gorgeous, enjoyable, all-to-brief afternoon on the shores of Lake Michigan with the more senior/insane members of our clan - catching up, solving the world's problems and shamelessly cracking up over some pretty "crappy" situations that seemed to have a Wal-Mart theme.

I bungeed a homemade, hot out of the oven, Rhubarb/Blueberry/Black Raspberry torte to the back of the bike for the 6-mile ride to meet and delight said seniors - and delight them it did, minus one, whom I have known forever, but didn't know she despises blueberries (there should be a law) & rhubarb alike. Too bad for her, extra for the others! (I would recommend that she see a specialist about the blueberry thing though.)

Had the camera along, bungee not required, so a photo-op was inevitable and mandatory. Only problem was getting said seniors close enough to the water (the actual scene), focused (brain focus, not camera) and at the same time. It resembled a kindergarten assembly for the slow (no offense to anyone not related) and turned in to an eighth grade graduation party with booze (I'm just imagining here). Miraculously no one was drowned or arrested and digital memories were made to share with God only knows!

Short rides are like short visits - still fun, just too short ~

Midwest August

August is bustling with action & activities - fairs, festivals, charity rides, concerts, cookouts, 08-08-08, Sturgis, job interviews..., so no lack of a destination, as if that was ever an issue. Saving myself for Harley-Davidson's 105th celebration the end of this month, seeing how I've just recovered from their 100th!

Rode my socks off this past week; literally over the weekend...too hot for proper biker attire, which I seldom subject myself to anyway; just right for swimsuit top, shorts & flip-flops. Found a mom & pop, five counties away, with tasty homemade ice cream and handmade cones; savored hot-off-the-press spring rolls at a nearby Farmer's Market; landed in a cemetery with tombstones over 150 years; spent the better part of a gorgeous afternoon in a pea field with 16 running combines; paused off numerous times to capture the beautiful landscape, as well as the mundane, never quite achieving the desired result, but close enough to relive summer's freedom once it's over.

Our garden of eatin' is ripening and producing delectable ingredients each evening and after yesterday's rain it will be bursting with goodies to share.

The almost daily communication with my future riding partner has surpassed the 30 day mark, which means we're due for a face-to-face - I'd like to see her swimming in the pool and napping on the front porch, but I also wouldn't mind the 900+ mile run to her neck of the woods. ~

How is your summer going??

Gorgeous summer days are noticeably passing by, but I've been preoccupied with Flickr, almost addicted, and job hunting.

Some riding is getting done, just not as exotic as in previous seasons. Lots of marinated meats, fresh caught fish & garden vegetables are being grilled in the evenings. Ice cream by the buckets' full disappear without a trace. Enjoyable hours poolside reading and researching, occasionally just staring, reflecting or photographing surrounding bugs, flowers, tress and other self-amusing objects. All too brief visits with family & friends. Compiled a vocabulary list of over 100 words from a skillfully detailed, richly realistic novel - Love in the Time of Cholera - outside of my usual genre, but no regrets. Created an impossible mess in the upper foyer - in an attempt to organize & regroup 30 years of pictures and frames. Went from zero to 50 sit-ups this week and cannot remember why or when I gave them up, since they REALLY do make such a nice difference in the mirror - from my vantage point at least! Sleeping like a lamb, thanks to Mother Nature's good sense to turn down the heat and kick up the breeze after 10PM. Summer should just keep going & going...

How is your summer going??

Ride to Work Day

For those of you who missed it, yesterday was the 17th annual Ride to Work Day - a day set aside for all who ride on or in two wheels.

I was looking forward to participating, you know me, anything for the biker cause, but a couple of things prevented my intention.

First of all, I don't have a job to ride to! Well, not quite yet anyway. Secondly, I had an interview yesterday (second round!) for said job and due to it's professional nature, felt compelled not to show up with wind blown hair and my skirt over my eyes. My alternative plan was to attend the interview, rush home to put on more comfortable riding gear, like a swim suit (it was near 90 by noon), then hit the open road for the remainder of the day.

The interview went very well, the ride home in the four-wheeled vehicle was excruciating - I think the air conditioner is going, but the payoff was near if I could only locate the suit I wanted (it has a cute matching skirt).

Just when I was about to throw my perfectly coiffed hair into a ponytail, the phone rang - it was my baby daughter and I couldn't blow off that call. She was letting me know she was literally blocks away and coming to enjoy the often ignored pool and me, I think. Well, at least I was dressed properly for the occasion.

Throw together some homemade Hummus, baked tortillas, elk sausage, Wisconsin cheese, fresh black raspberries, flotation devices, underwater goggles, CDs and a couple of Bloody Mary's and you have the makings for a perfect poolside visit with your offspring and her girlfriend.

Situate the lounge chairs, towels, etc. But wait, "are those dark clouds moving this way?" No worries, you get just as tan when it's overcast and besides, it's freakin' hot without the sun shining so shiny. "Yeah, well we were going to go to the beach near our house (an hour north of said cloud system!) and this will really suck." No rain in the forecast, it's nothing at all, it will pass.

I don't recall who grabbed what, but let's just say it all worked out - we had fun without the sun, except for that deer-in-the-headlights pause we experienced when the town's alarm went off and we pondered carrying the Bloody Mary fixings to the basement!

I expect to be employed and a participant in the 18th annual Ride to Work Day, my kid can have the pool to herself!