Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Coxcomb and Sunset

I took these about dusky dark last night before we started getting rain from the most recent hurricane to hit Louisiana. We were predicted to get a great amount of rain, but Gustav did not come through northeast Texas. We have have had a good gentle rain all day. Thank God! Gustav lost strength before it hit shore and wasn't a repeat of Katrina.



On with the show. Aunt Cora Adams (who really wasn't an aunt at all but my grandfather's cousin's wife...however, my grandfather's parents died when he was an infant and an aunt raised him therefore making his cousins more like siblings...which would be more like aunts/uncles to my dad...confused? Sorry...) Anywho...Aunt Cora had an old-timey yard. She had flowers throughout her front yard and not one blade of grass showing. I remember a riot of colors, but most of all I remember the velvety softness of her coxcombs. These are some of mine:

The evening sky as Hurricane Gustav started to affect northeast Texas:


Monday, September 1, 2008

Am I Ever Sore!

After two grueling days I am back home to a soft bed and an air conditioner! I spent two days in Hell taking a rider's safety course this past weekend. I have had the motorcycle endorsement on my driver's license since the mid-70s when my first husband and I rode bikes. My motorcycle days ended with my pregnancy in 1983. In 2006, my current husband acquired a Harley-Davidson (photos of hubby and bike are in earlier posts). I'm tired of riding "2-up" so decided to take a "refresher" course before getting my own bike.

In the ten years that I rode, I never dropped my bike, skidded my bike, laid my bike down, etc. Not one scratch on its beautiful paint job. This weekend, I dropped the class bike on Saturday and high-sided it on Sunday. We had a bit of classwork then got on the bikes before lunch on Saturday. We were back at it again at 7 a.m. Sunday. We were out on a parking lot in 90+ degree sunshine. After all of the "modules" we then did some honing of our skills before testing. I realized how extremely tired I was. That's when I decided I'd had enough. I had reached the level past concentration and my responses were slow. My riding was getting sloppy. Time to quit before I got really hurt. For me to get back on the bike at that point of exhaustion was dangerous. A wise person (LOL now I'm wise?!) knows when to stop pushing and to quit.

IF you ever decide to take a motorcycle rider's safety course...do not take it in the heat of summer. Try to find classes that are taught half-days for four or five days. Pace yourself.


This has not dimmed my desire for a bike. We will be traveling to American Eagle Harley in Corinth Texas to pick up my new bike within the week. I see some nice slow riding on the back roads in my neck of the woods while I get accustomed to my new bike. Photos will follow!