Bax & Dad's excellent adventure

I have avoided this Chautauqua for a while although it has been on my mind on and off for the past several years. I bought my first street bike, a 1979 650 Yamaha special when we were expecting our third child. I used it to commute to our building site where I (with the help of my friends) was building our first and hopefully last home of my life time. I sold it because of the fear of leaving my spouse a widow and my son's fatherless. It also seemed so much an extravagance, unless it served another purpose. I found that purpose 7 years later while we were planning my son's Grade 8 year. It seemed obvious that if the focus of the year was integrating life and experience one would have to travel in the form of a motorcycle, where instead of seeing the world within a frame and a climate controlled surroundings, you are in the picture experiencing every nuance directly (this concept was stolen from ZMM) The previous fear of crashing was replaced with the idea that if one is to live one's own existence avoiding every conceivable risk, life may pass you by unnoticed. This concept was reinforced lately when I witnessed the ultralite crash. The pilot was a 76 year old gentleman who had crashed 6 years previously and ended up in hospital. This time it cost him his life. I think to myself that is not the worst way to go. I have also come to the conclusion that I am not in the centre of the universe and if I should die life would go on. It would look different without my presence but such is life. I know that my wife and family have the character to go on.