orange shoes, an infantile quarterback and da Bears

This past Sunday's game between the Bears and the Lions was fantastic. The Bears gave us fans something to get excited about. Devon Hester ran one back. The defense outscored the offense. Special teams did great. There was even a fight, not that I'm a violent person, but it was a lot better than some of the predictable, boring, run of the mill games that never live up to the pre-game hype.

I enjoyed seeing Earl Bennett in his orange shoes again. Personally I wouldn't be caught dead in those shoes, but he likes them, and orange is the Bears color. Bennett got fined $5,000 for wearing the shoes, so what does he do? He wears them again so he has now been fined $10,000. It kinda reminds me of a certain "punky QB" who wore his headband even when Pete Rozelle told him not to. The NFL organization can be pretty stuffy sometimes, and besides, those shoes look better than some of the other ugly stuff that the NFL makes the players wear. If the NFL commissioner had the idea that the Bears should wear orange shoes it would be a fantastic idea, but when one of the players wants to do it, well, that's a different story.

I'm happy. The Bears are playing better, and they're giving the suits something to sweat about.

Then of course there was the infantile, sissy, poor sport, helmet grabbing incident by Matthew Stafford. He was frustrated, feeling sorry for his embarrassing play and so he took a cheap shot to make his hurt ego feel better. That was one fine I was happy to see the league hand out.

I'm not happy to see our Colts bleeding like they are, but the Bears are putting on a show. I'm even happy for the Packers, momentarily, until hopefully, they are dashed to pieces by the Bears.

Street Bob in Mace, Indiana

I got the naked Goldwing out to take a ride, but it had a problem, so I took my Harley Street Bob instead. It was a beautiful day and I wanted to take advantage of the warmth. Before long the nice days to ride will give way to snow drifts. As I was riding I came across this simple gem of yesterday architecture; the roadside gas station. The massive self service gas station/convenience stores commonly seen along the road elicit only ambivalence from me. Exaggerated pricing on everything from a bottle of soda to a dreamcatcher to hang from your rear view mirror is enough to create a major hit on your bank account if you linger very long.

On the other hand, I love these nostalgic roadside reminders of the days when people didn't have to drink pop and eat Slim Jims while they drove.

I believe this prim and proper former gas station serves as an office for some rental property but whatever its use my compliments to the owners on a nicely maintained building. It also serves as a nice frame for a photo opportunity.

Naked Goldwing Vs Harley Street Bob

For nearly a decade I have been the owner of a 75 Naked Goldwing motorcycle. For two of those years I, with some help from my friends, brought it back to life. I have continued to maintain, repair, and improve my Goldwing.

This year I won a 2012 Harley Street Bob. A Street Bob is a big engine and a minimum of everything else.

When the Naked Goldwing and the Naked Harley are sitting side by side in the garage they seem a lot alike. I call them kissing cousins. Both bikes are black with just enough chrome. Both bikes have lots of power. Both bikes insure a lot of interaction with the environment since neither has a windshield or fairing of any kind. Both bikes encourage getting away from everything since there is no place to put anything on the Street Bob and the only place to put anything on the Goldwing is a compartment inside the faux gas tank or shelter as it is often called.

The Harley even discourages taking a friend along since it has a solo seat. So get on and ride, go fast, go loud, cast aside everything that so easily entangles and enjoy God's masterpieces that rush by in the constantly changing scenery.

The Goldwing encourages a friend to ride along behind on its two person seat. You can still go fast, and shed the cares of the world, but there's someone doing life together with you. The Goldwing is even quiet enough that you could talk to each other a bit at a stop light.

When I ride alone I ride the Harley, when my wife goes with me, I take the Goldwing. It seems perfect, until I consider that maybe I should sell them both and get a bike that can provide the best of both bikes. But what would that be?