November 13

November 13, Bangor, Maine. Doesn’t strike you as an ideal time and place for a motorcycle ride, does it. Well, it wasn’t bad.

I got some yard work done in the morning, raking oak leaves. The scarlet oak in the front yard was given to me many years ago by my cousin George. It was a tiny, little twig of a tree, temporarily planted in a coffee can so we could haul it from Ohio to Maine. Unfortunately George passed away, but the tree is thriving and I still think of him from time to time when I look at it. It’s always the last one to shed it’s leaves and though there are still a few clasping the branches, the great weather suggested to me I should get a jump on the raking. I rake by hand, no blower or fancy leaf-picker-upper attached to a tractor. I do it the old fashioned way, and believe it or not I enjoy it. Must dredge up some distant memory or feeling from the past.

I called my friend Alex from Belfast early in the morning and planned a rendezvous at the Bucksport Dunkin Donuts at noon. I took the back roads, though this time I didn’t lollygag. These quiet back roads weren’t as deserted as they have been maybe because churches were letting out. I reached my destination about twenty minutes early and Alex was waiting. We nursed our coffee and caught up. Alex is a talker so I mostly listened. We then decided to head out on the road for a little spin. Castine was our destination but we planned to keep an eye peeled for a diner or similar style eatery. They ride was pleasurable but a wrong turn got us back to Bucksport a little earlier than planned. We were approached by the Bucksport police while loitering in the parking lot in front of the Subway. Turns out he was just curious about the bikes. Alex has a burgundy NT700 just like mine.

From there it was on to Verona Island and then across the Penobscot Narrows bridge. Just Barb's in Stockton Springs was our destination. I had a hankerin’ for fried clams, but the $17.50 asking price pushed me in the direction of fish and chips. Lunch was great, but the sun started getting low in the sky, which means the deer will be on the move and the temperature will start to drop. We parted ways and headed for home thinking about our next ride, maybe in April?