Cold running

Winter has set in yet again, and I'm still riding, mostly just to work.

It's been quite a while since my last post, but life has been treating me well of late and I've been out living it.

The Sabre's carb's are drained and tomorrow it will get some sta-bil in the tank and a new cover to keep the snow off. I wish I had the money to put it in storage, but I'll have to make do with what I have access to.

The scoot is running well, but has it's normal complaints and splutters with the cold, so it's been getting a bit more warm up time as it's gotten in previous winters.

I've been looking into getting a culinary arts degree and have checked out two schools so far. In fact, this morning, my son and I took the train to Philly to check out the Culinary Arts program at the Art Institutes. After viewing the facilities and hearing the sales pitch, we went down Market Street to the historic district. After wandering around in the cold, seeing the underground Ben Franklin museum and the Liberty Bell (and skipping Independence hall because they wanted us to buy a ticket for a tour), we ended up at the National Constitution Center.

They are currently featuring the Art of the American Soldier, which is an exhibition of art compiled over the years by the U.S. military through the work of combat artists. The artwork was very moving and thought provoking, and my son was enthralled by it.

About 2pm, we started walking back to the train station and it was a nice day for it. Between riding my scooter and spending hours in the cold woods, I must have built up a resistance to the extreme cold and hardly noticed it during our trek back up Market Street.

We saw a couple scooters, both Vespas. One was parked and the other was motoring down Market Street while we were heading out of town. I admire fellow scootsters who are willing to brave the elements, though their reasons may differ from mine.

As the winter progresses, I will continue to commute on my scooter, but will gladly hope for spring. I'm warm enough on my commutes, but the cold doesn't really lend itself to longer rides.

I have noticed more folks on scooters over the last month or so, despite the cold, and with gas now cresting the $3.00 mark, I'm not terribly surprised. If the gas prices spark another scooter boom, I hope that those of us who already ride can influence prospective scooter riders into starting with at least 100cc machines. 50's are good and all, but more often than not, they end up being stepping stones to faster machines. This isn't necessarily bad, but it seems more sensible to just skip that step and go with a slightly stronger machine to begin with, with more staying power.

So, despite my flying under the radar, I'm still here. I've been living life and enjoying it. I'm still hunting and riding the scoot to the woods and fields. I haven't gotten a deer yet this year, but I've used the scoot to get to the woods for both bow and rifle seasons.

Proving once again the versatility of these little machines.