Giving Thanks

As Greg and I were taking down the Halloween decorations and putting up the Thanksgiving decorations ~ I found a new Thanksgiving angel that I bought late last year, after the Thanksgiving date. Written on the angel's skirt is about being grateful and giving thanks.

October was the month of NaBloWriMo - posting anything as long as you posted each day of the month (I made it - yeah!)

This month, I'm going to post about things that I'm grateful for. I'm going to attempt to keep going with the post a day (though I missed yesterday - it was my "break day" :) - but with the theme of gratitude.

For today ~ I'm grateful that I have a husband who supports and encourages me. Greg recently bought a scooter. You might not know this about me, but anything with just two wheels doesn't generally work well me it. It's a balance issue.

Greg took me to the baseball parking lot, which was empty that early in the morning. Greg drove the scooter, with me as a passenger and let me tell you... the first couple of minutes, I was holding my breath because of my nerves. Then, I took a couple of deep breaths and enjoyed the ride.

Now... me driving the thing? I was nervous, but I made 4 rounds in the parking lot, which is more than Greg expected of me. I still have troubles with the turning. I turn the wheel, but it's not like a car, it doesn't just... umm. TURN!

Right now, I can make wide turns and at least I feel comfortable getting on the scooter. I'm grateful that Greg is willing to teach me, to share with me and have patience with me, while being very encouraging.

He even wrote to our good friend, Rene, about my turning issues. (Greg took a video of me on his phone, which I didn't know he did.) Rene has a motorcycle. Rene sent a thoughtful reply and some interesting information, which I thought I'd share with you:

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The bike has to lean to make a good turn.

Here is some physics for you...

This is a little counter intuitive. To get the bike to lean left, you have to steer a little right as an initial steering input, before steering left.

Another thing important is to choose a good line through the turn

To be totally honest... once turns are mastered, turns become one of the greatest joy's of motorcycling.

There is a little SLOW-LOOK-LEAN-ROLL limerick taught by the motorcycle safety foundation:

1. Slow (slow as you approach the turn)
2. Look through the turn (as with any sport, your body goes where your eyes go)
3. Lean the motorcycle through the turn (pure physics)
4. Roll on the throttle (and smile)

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