Remember The Stance.
Memories and old friends last forever....
You've heard about a snapshot memory right? A time or instance or experience so crystal clear in your memory it's like looking at a photo. I might not remember what lead up to that moment, or what else was happening just then, but I, like you have many snapshot moments.
One of the earliest is of me as a little tot playing with a huge stuffed dog, a red cheap cotton dog that as I grew older recognized as a prize from a fair. For those less Gen Y readers, you'll likely recall the stuffing - made out of something that reminded me of wood shavings. A dog full of potential slivers...hahahaha. But I recall hugging that dog and the grey speckled congoleum of the floor. That is all I remember - could have been my mom's house or grandmas. That big toy dog might not have even been mine - might have been my aunts for all I know...but I do remember that at a very young age - like 2 or 3 I loved that dog at that moment.
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| My first bike - ok this is a picture cause I'm not sure if I still have any of the one I rode for a few years, but despite bad wiring, Amyl carbs and Lucas wiring - that 750 Triumph was a fun fast little bike! |
When I first got my license, I had already been riding bikes for a few years. And it was not too often you'd see a girl on a bike - not in the prairie towns I hung in! So it was fun - got to hang with the guys, sit and watch them work on bikes, reading the manuals and pointing out when they were screwing up - and often being right! I learned what made a bike run, what tools were needed and how to make the tool that you didn't have. It was a cool time of my life, and I have a lot of great memories of a smoky garage, cold beers, loud rock and roll, and a group of fools gathered, "in the stance" talking about bikes.
Oh yeah about the garage: I'm not talking about the sterile, tiled and organized units attached to the front of the house you see all over now adays. No this kind of garage (in my day...wow that sounded old!) always backed onto an alley. Maybe a long driveway leading up to it - but never in front! Sometimes not more than an expanded garden shed (wooden) or on occassion an outbuilding on a farm, but more on that later! The cops knew where they were and occassionally popped round to "make sure everyone was okay" (Okay!!)
For those who were there - or hung out somewhere else in a similar garage in those days - I shouldn't have to describe "the stance" but for those who don't know (or just because I like writing about it) I'm going to anyways!
Male or female, it doesn't differ. The Stance - it's when you are standing, legs slightly parted, one arm folded and on your belly, head tilted to the side and often with a smoke hanging out of your mouth, gesturing with the other hand often while it's holding a beer bottle to whatever or whomever you are talking about. And after a point is made, taking a deep drag or a long pull on the beer - listening to the agreement or disagreements from the others in the vicinity. At the end of the night, the Stance sometimes required a backward balancing step to off set gravity - which was dead set on taking advantage of those beers!
Gravity can be cruel..and many good laughs were had because of it!
But that was a lifetime ago, and although I have many memories - snapshot and otherwise - of those long nights in the garage with da boys, it was part of what makes me who I am. A smart mouthed, quick witted, no crap kind of woman. And good around bikes!
And from many hours of riding, sharing stories, telling jokes, arguing and just having fun I made some really really good friends. As fate would have it I just reunited with a couple of da boys after a long absence. One is my buddy who will be called "chickenhawk" to protect the not so innocent! The other we'll call SFC. And you'll read more about them as memory serves me and as time goes on.
For both of these guys - both still friends since well before my favorite husband Mac, it was like old times - and like no time had passed since we'd seen each other. I'm looking forward to a day when we can assume the stance, and tell tales about where we've been, what we've seen and life in general.
I've had a lot of bikes, and a lot to do with bikes in my life. Maybe not the fastest rider, the fanciest bikes, or the most exotice places but my riding days are among the most cherished of my life. And my rides have lead me to some pretty dang good adventures, great people and to my darling Mac.
Next time when you are at a party, I dare you to slip into the stance. Betcha all your buddies will assume the stance in about 10 minutes into the conversations!!
Life's Short - Ride Hard!
