The weather outside is frightful...

December in Maryland is not ideal riding weather, and, while I could bemoan the plight of existing on a planet with a tilted axis, I'm rather enjoying the anticipation of the next year's riding.

I finally dropped the bike off for repairs from the Great Missouri Midnight Parking Lot Incident in August.  'Out of sight out of mind,' I think.  'You don't have the bike, you'll stop thinking about how nice it would be to tool around for an hour'....except that last week I picked up the tank and rear fender to bring to the paint shop I can't get a hold of, and every time I get in the car I see the silver and white bones of the bike in the back seat...  teehee.

And I can be working.  Yes, working.  Working is good.  I like my work and I like to get paid.  Getting paid means I have gas money and gas money means I get to ride.  This is good.  And work is sooo slow.  Everyone is gone for the last week of December.  There are no meetings to attend, no assignments to deal with, no one to talk to about anything...just me and the computer...where I look up bikes on ebay and drool over the Valk Rune for 17.5 in New York, or the sidecar outfit that looks like so much fun or the 130 db horn I'd love to have or the custom paint jobs at the shop in Chicago, or the Ayre's tours or bikers' blogs... 

And when 4 o'clock comes I head home with my fender and my gas tank.  I am greeted by a cat and the stack of  Xmas gifts still scattered all over the dining room:  the Road Toad gear and rain boots Mom got me, the 'Long Way Down' dvd and do-it-yourself earplugs from Pop, the dry-overnight underwear from Ginny, and an apple-arguably the only non-mc gift I got.  Woohoo!  Santa treated me very well this year, indeed!  I may have to try everything on again, just for the heck of it. :))

Virtual social time proves that I am not alone in my giddiness.  Let's see..a msg from Lorne on Facebook...'Hey, my new heated gear is awesome!  The 60 mile commute was nice and toasty...'   Hoagy's email says, 'Hey, boss, I wanna get the Hoagy's Heroes site up to date with next year's rides, can ya help me?', and Sarah tweets that she finally got her new Harley and is breaking it in in sunny Florida.  How cool is that?

And, anchored down on the sofa in front of the fire under the heaviest blanket made by man, I've got Rider, Motorcycle Consumer News, Cycle World, and David Hough within reach and Ewan and Charley on 3 dvd's to show me the world on two wheels.  Winter's not so bad.  The smell of the fire, a good read and a trip I don't have to leave the cat behind for. 

Would I like to jump on the bike tonight for a starry ride?  heck, yeah, but I think it kinda keeps things interesting when you can't have what you want all the time, so I'm gonna make myself some tea and sit with my big goofy smile, my cat and my periodicals and dream about 2010 possibilites.  ;)