Vignettes XXI

I have been missing my motorcycle. Happily I have lots of pictures from before the wreck to remind me of what I will be getting back onto after I get back from Italy:

I have been realising how much I miss riding,especially on Highway One which has been plagued with people doing very little to get out of my way on my commute. It's getting warmer too so I have been thinking about my last trip up to the Everglades with Bruce on his BMW:

My knee is still scabby from the wreck which is annoying but I'm hoping the fall on Big Coppitt will soon be nothing more than a memory. A friend called to tell me he had a similar situation when he rode through the road works, he stayed upright, I didn't!So naturally I look around and feel envious of people who are riding. Like this overloaded BMW looking like an Andean llama in the parking lot at the end of Front Street:The machine was covered in dirt and stickers which gave the barest hint what the rider might have been doing:Here today, gone tomorrow: seen Key West, cross that off the list...Nearby I saw one my preferred scooters, an Aprilia Mojito, known as a Habana in the rest of the world that doesn't embargo Cuba. I like the Vespa-like looks with the low comfortable seat:They don't import these scooters anymore which is a shame. I guess Piaggio which owns Vespa and Aprilia doesn't see any point in competing with it's own products, but there are a few of these machines left in Key West. This orange one was in Casa Marina:This one was near the High School:The Mojitos were offered with 50 or 150cc engines and with classic handlebars like these or with extravagant chrome motorcycle bars in the "Custom" version. I prefer the restrained good looks of a classic Italian scooter:The one good thing about being stuck in the car is that one gets added opportunities to take pictures at random. This one I snapped in the mirror as I was driving down Eaton Street:Of course I never wore a helmet when I was a child. Heads were harder perhaps or we hadn't been trained to be so fearful? And talking about the past I got a blast of history when I crossed paths with this shopping cart lurking on Thomas Street:So, how long ago was it that Eckerd Drugs sold out to the national chain that goes by the rather bland initials of CVS? This cart reminded me why I keep this blog, because change is endemic to Key West. But somethings don't change much, including the wildlife, seen here on a sidewalk.I stopped to let them clean their plates and immediately some other pedestrian stepped right into them. People need more vacation. that includes Giovanni, seen here in the mountains abaove Amalfi, south of Naples. We had a good time riding there last year. A couple of years before that I took my vacation in Corsica where we rode his BMW R1150 all over the island for two weeks. I even forgot to wear my helmet in the lonely fastness of Corsica's rebellious mountains:On that subject we were at the doctor's recently where my wife was setting up an appointment for surgery on her shoulder which she injured at work. The secretary peered at my raw knee and asked what happened.

"Fell off my motorcycle," I said a little tired of the story by now.

"So did I," a reply which didn't fail to astonish me. "On gravel" she added holding out her flayed digits.

"You weren't wearing gloves?" I asked as we compared scabs. She shook her head.And working in that office she knows exactly which bones go where. They call this demonstrator skeleton Mr Bones which I think is rather cool so I snuck a couple of pictures when they weren't looking, I also took a peek inside the skull cavity which was, unhapppily, empty. Mr Bones' bones are all numbered and he grins all the time.It must be exhausting being a skeleton. Just hanging there grinning madly.