Wyatt Underwood's
Homestead

Harley-Davidson!

Reverie - The Trip

So what do you do next after a 7700 mile trip on a Harley-Davidson?

Rest. Think. Stare at the Harley and see vistas from the trip. Imagine another trip.

But where? When? Why? You've already celebrated Harley-Davidson's 100th birthday. Would you celebrate its 105th? You could. Many did.

I didn't. I worked and thought, and thought and worked, and pretty soon we dived into the depression.... Oh dear! We have an agreement not to call it that. The recession, or readjustment, of 2008. Yes, once again capitalism, or our greed, built an economy we couldn't control, and plunged the whole world into a mess. Large corporations and banks demanded ransoms that would save them, and got them. Then they gratefully pitched in and helped create jobs for common folks? Yeah. Right. We're still waiting to see that happen. Meanwhile we have seen corporations and banks build an economy with more disparity than ever between its winners and those of us who have to work.

So I busied myself learning a little more about economy and how a few people think it works - thank you Paul Krugman - and learning that I could, maybe, weather this storm and even retire.

Among the costs, whatever that next trip might have been.

And then among the costs, Harleying itself. I got too old? Maybe. It's an interpretation. In any case, I hurt myself seriously twice in a short interval, in each case doing something that should have been safe, something I had done safely hundreds of times in 41 years of motorcycling and Harleying. I accepted the warnings from the universe. That's also an interpretation.

So. Damn, I'm glad I took that ride! Damn, I'm glad I saw and heard felt and smelled and tasted what I did. If I could give you anything from this life, it would be that: take that ride, and while you're at it, see, hear, smell, taste, and feel whatever it offers you.

And another gift? Give back. Find something you love, and a community who loves it too, and give back generously. Don't make anyone deserve anything. Who are you to judge? Give and give and give, and let yourself enjoy those who are giving with you. I don't think you'll find that in any economics book, but it's there in biographies.

Have a wonderful!