Soakin' and smilin'

I love my motorcycle. When the weather is clear and warm (or even not so warm) I get great pleasure out of riding it wherever I feel like going.

I have just discovered that I even like it in the rain. I never really considered this, as I'll freely admit I was a bit if a fair weather biker before I lost the truck in the divorce, and since then the weather hasn't been all that sucky, just a bit drizzly when I have to ride.

In any case, here is how I reached my current opinion: I got caught in a famous Halifax downpour (which, incidentally, turned out to be the tail end of Hurricane Katrina....yep, the same one that ravaged Louisiana, etc...) on my ride back from lunch today (delicious quinoa and chick pea concoction w/ spinach salad courtesy the fine folks at the One World Cafe..mmmmmmmm) and for a moment I was angry..angry that it was raining now and had not been raining just 2 minutes before, angry that I was getting water down the back of my neck...you can imagine. The rain fell harder, my visibility diminished, and I had another 5 km of road/river to negotiate, most of it on the Beford Highway, which is hazardous at the best of times...let's not even get into the risks when there are 5 mm of rain on the pavement, the tire ruts are FULL, and I am being tossed around by huge transport trucks that are kind enough to spray great greasy waves of water over me and my ratty-yet-reliable little 250cc Honda. For some reason, though, I was not fearful. In fact, as the umpteenth wall of water collided with my goggles, I began to laugh. It was amazing...I guess I just resigned myself to a) getting completely drenched, which I did, in high style, I might add, and b) possibly meeting my demise right then and there....a watery 2 wheeled grave, squished under a semi....I can think of worse ways to go.

As it turns out, I made it to my place of employment in one piece; I am sodden through to my skivvies..through my thick leathers, through my jeans, to my Fruit-of-the-Looms. Boots and socks? Wring em out and fill em with newspaper. T- shirt? Dry where the jacket was covering it, wet as hell where my zipper was just a tiny bit open..and down the back of my neck. Eeech. Gloves? Mushy, but I am told that horsehide likes moisture, so I think they will be fine. They did not trasfer their black dye onto my hands, at least. Neither did my goggles..good thing cos I would have ended up with quite the racoon mask.

The rain was warm...tropical, almost.....the air heavy and fragrant...not unlike the scent that was hanging just before Juan kicked our asses near 2 years ago. Hmmmm.

Every day is a new start for me....no complaints. Bring on the torrent.

Now I have to decide where to go tonight........Ginger's? Gus's? Khyber? All of the above? Oh, the decisions. I'll be soaked either way, and I cannot move my stuff or paint my room when the humidity is 1000%, so my only alternative is to go and listen to some music. So be it.