My wife took a ride with her brother when she was in her late 40s. She had fun, and she checked it off. No desire to do it again over twenty years later (her brother still rides).
Gotta find out who you are and be the best at it. That cuts the stress right down to nothing. Some of us play with thread and make meadows bloom so others gasp at the beauty of it. There's no speed in either of those. I watched a guy try his first ride.... right into the side of his mercedes. PErsonallly, I'm not fond of bugs anywhere, definitley NOT in my teeth. So thank you no. Keep looking Shel, you'll find it.
The vine-twines of our lives are totally amazing. As I saw the mail come in, I walked outside to get it and a motorcycle stopped with a bearded man about my (old) age on it. His wife had just died and he began...
After hearing his story and returning to yours, Sharron, the earth appears smaller, lighter, more genuine. And beyond miraculous in the unsearched-or connections. Just emphasizes our characters and infinite possibilities of our humanness.
Some of us have to go through so many iterations before we discover who we truly are and what we are meant to do. Some of us never find our true selves. You have.
I am not sure about humans meant to be wild. I think our ability to reason and create sort of indicate a different purpose? I could be wrong, of course, and often am.
Depends on your definition of 'wild', doesn't it? Adventurous perhaps? Seeking always to learn something new and perhaps putting ourselves at some risk--because if we succeed and live, that was a good risk. And if we don't next generations will learn that risk might be too much: therefore, we reason and create.
Here's what I think; maybe ALL perspectives are correct. After a moment, we think each is either a yes or a no, but maybe both can be correct. Just from different places, we see distinctly?
I guess some of us have to keep searching longer than others to discover our true selves. Who knows what Sheldon will find? I, myself, was 40 and had undergone several incarnations before I knew what I was meant to do and be.
Why assume that the search for "true self" must yield a single and everlasting answer? Some find several true selves that can be lived at the same time, or one after another -- (serial selfhood?)
Write a story about THAT, Jim! Multiple selves. I like it. ( But not multiple personalities. That has been done.) I, personally am FULL of illogical assumptions, by the way. ha ha ha
A few years make a difference. Bachman overdrive, flares from exhaust fumes my Lambretta scooter 0 cc motor got me to school. Rode up the road in a British Austin Healy; found a sprite in a pub for a night curled up on a bed of bolts, but she needed retooling every 6 months; then purred like a kitten. Oh, the good pains and pleasure poems written about the wanna have a Harley, but that came to be the name of my cat.
Sharron, you get my motor scooter 🛵 running and now I am without wheels, but write what wheels me with no tires to fill . Free to ride TheO- pen reams of paper in Bachman turner overdrive. Music to my ears.
Boy, Nice motorcycle! Sheldon made a good trip of it - Muncie to East Barstow - before reality caught up, even if he doesn't remember it. The outside is easy to change, but the inside rules. There really is a run-down motor court, as of last year, just east of Barstow. Enjoyed this, Sharron.
Thanks, Ron. What motorcycle did you have? I have passed through Barstow several times, never saw a reason to stop. You think I might have missed something?
I've had two. Both 500s. A Honda and a Suzuki. Easier for me to handle. Traveled long distance on each. Unless you wanted a cold drink, or the biggest Strawberry Hot Fudge Sundae I ever happened upon, probably no reason to stop. At least the highways through there are better now. Barstow will soon be a major transportation hub to/from LA port and beyond for trains and trucks due to theft at the port. Is that crazy!? NASA has a Deep Space Network there. Calico Ghost Town Museum. I know, TMI. : )
My story would be a bit different in that I moved from Ohio to California and never looked back, but then I took my family with me, and it appears Sheldon was on his own.
Very true! I was meant to be a California girl. After my first visit in the late 1970s, I was in love with the ocean, the hills, and the flowers—not so much the traffic and the crowds, but they came with the territory. My husband's chance to transfer out here for his job opened the door.
Sometimes you just have to throw the sleeping bag into the Subaru, follow a dirt road into the horizon, and see what comes shaking your car in the middle of the night. Glad Sheldon took his pipe dream to the end of the road and can still make it back home. Another gem, Sharron.
I love your "little stories." What's more, they are perfect literary get-aways for today's frantic, busy people who don't have the time or will to read War and Peace.
Personally, I think posts under seven minutes is what Substack readers want. As a writer here, any longer piece gets serialized. I could be wrong., though.🤪
I agree. I try to keep my sagas to no longer that 2 1/2 pages with photos to break up the print. My attention span wears out reading pieces longer than that. It's just too much to digest sometimes. But that's my problem. Younger people are so busy ... as they always have been. There's just took much to do.
I believe that all adventures (experiences) good and bad are cumulative and subjective and thus, with few exceptions, should never be regretted. A guy like Sheldon may have had regrets later in life if he had never explored his "wild side."
Whenever I made a mistake, a bad choice, or did something shameful, my old mom would always say, "It is all learning, honey." We just learn from our errors and remember. I agree, Sheldon DID need to go out and explore. All young people should. Thanks Jim. All is well here in Santa Cruz. Full of crazies, but that is nothing new. We are getting our yearly rain, thank goodness. Are your hurricanes over for the year? What months are storm months there?
Katy was a wise woman. I guess you need the rain out there so I'm sure you are thankful. We are in a period of delightful weather and have been spending a lot of time on the boat. Hurricane season starts in June and ends in November. Hoping for a quiet season but we always prepare for the worst.
Welcome, Caroline. Thanks for dropping by here at 🌿LEAVES, my tiny micro-fiction meteor in the great Substack universe. Glad you found me, glad to have you aboard!
Wonderful title, Sharron. It seems when we want to be free to roam, we are just running from ourselves. For a few years, I hung out in bars and clubs after work. It wasn't a life. It was an in-between lives until I rediscovered my life.
For four years, I hung out in bars and drank at every opportunity. But it all ended forty-four years ago when I arrived in El Paso to marry a gal I had only seen three times prior. I began to live again and write.
Never been on a motorcycle. No regrets.
My wife took a ride with her brother when she was in her late 40s. She had fun, and she checked it off. No desire to do it again over twenty years later (her brother still rides).
Some of us are born to be tame. 😐
Now there is GREAT title for your next story, Jack. "Born to be Tame"
I love this character!
Yes! Me, too. I do not ,for the life of me, know where these people come from, Joan! Thanks for giving Sheldon a try.
Gotta find out who you are and be the best at it. That cuts the stress right down to nothing. Some of us play with thread and make meadows bloom so others gasp at the beauty of it. There's no speed in either of those. I watched a guy try his first ride.... right into the side of his mercedes. PErsonallly, I'm not fond of bugs anywhere, definitley NOT in my teeth. So thank you no. Keep looking Shel, you'll find it.
The vine-twines of our lives are totally amazing. As I saw the mail come in, I walked outside to get it and a motorcycle stopped with a bearded man about my (old) age on it. His wife had just died and he began...
After hearing his story and returning to yours, Sharron, the earth appears smaller, lighter, more genuine. And beyond miraculous in the unsearched-or connections. Just emphasizes our characters and infinite possibilities of our humanness.
Stress lost. I'm not looking for more, anr you?
Nope.
Serendipity!
Some of us have to go through so many iterations before we discover who we truly are and what we are meant to do. Some of us never find our true selves. You have.
Yes I have ))) happy me )))
Were we all born to be wild? But had so many directions to choose? And how the clothes fit, wearable or outgrown mattered, or so I conjecture.
I am not sure about humans meant to be wild. I think our ability to reason and create sort of indicate a different purpose? I could be wrong, of course, and often am.
Depends on your definition of 'wild', doesn't it? Adventurous perhaps? Seeking always to learn something new and perhaps putting ourselves at some risk--because if we succeed and live, that was a good risk. And if we don't next generations will learn that risk might be too much: therefore, we reason and create.
Here's what I think; maybe ALL perspectives are correct. After a moment, we think each is either a yes or a no, but maybe both can be correct. Just from different places, we see distinctly?
MANY purposes. All valid? I hope so.
Something to consider!
Or Sheldon could keep going. Perhaps awakening another self he can be happy with….. or not.
I guess some of us have to keep searching longer than others to discover our true selves. Who knows what Sheldon will find? I, myself, was 40 and had undergone several incarnations before I knew what I was meant to do and be.
Why assume that the search for "true self" must yield a single and everlasting answer? Some find several true selves that can be lived at the same time, or one after another -- (serial selfhood?)
Write a story about THAT, Jim! Multiple selves. I like it. ( But not multiple personalities. That has been done.) I, personally am FULL of illogical assumptions, by the way. ha ha ha
A few years make a difference. Bachman overdrive, flares from exhaust fumes my Lambretta scooter 0 cc motor got me to school. Rode up the road in a British Austin Healy; found a sprite in a pub for a night curled up on a bed of bolts, but she needed retooling every 6 months; then purred like a kitten. Oh, the good pains and pleasure poems written about the wanna have a Harley, but that came to be the name of my cat.
Sharron, you get my motor scooter 🛵 running and now I am without wheels, but write what wheels me with no tires to fill . Free to ride TheO- pen reams of paper in Bachman turner overdrive. Music to my ears.
Riding the "open reams of paper" seems a safer choice than motorcycling, yet can be so entertaining. Keeps me engaged for hours. Days.
Boy, Nice motorcycle! Sheldon made a good trip of it - Muncie to East Barstow - before reality caught up, even if he doesn't remember it. The outside is easy to change, but the inside rules. There really is a run-down motor court, as of last year, just east of Barstow. Enjoyed this, Sharron.
Thanks, Ron. What motorcycle did you have? I have passed through Barstow several times, never saw a reason to stop. You think I might have missed something?
I've had two. Both 500s. A Honda and a Suzuki. Easier for me to handle. Traveled long distance on each. Unless you wanted a cold drink, or the biggest Strawberry Hot Fudge Sundae I ever happened upon, probably no reason to stop. At least the highways through there are better now. Barstow will soon be a major transportation hub to/from LA port and beyond for trains and trucks due to theft at the port. Is that crazy!? NASA has a Deep Space Network there. Calico Ghost Town Museum. I know, TMI. : )
Wow! Who knew? Yikes. Now that hot fudge strawberry sundae is calling. my name....
I love good old ordinary Sheldon. He was on a mission to find himself, and found that the old saying is true,”Wherever you go, there you are.”
No escape, really. But a few recreational side trips are recommended, if you ask me. Especially in these times.
My story would be a bit different in that I moved from Ohio to California and never looked back, but then I took my family with me, and it appears Sheldon was on his own.
You had back up, girl. I believe YOUR choice was fortuitous, Janice. You needed California.
Very true! I was meant to be a California girl. After my first visit in the late 1970s, I was in love with the ocean, the hills, and the flowers—not so much the traffic and the crowds, but they came with the territory. My husband's chance to transfer out here for his job opened the door.
Sometimes you just have to throw the sleeping bag into the Subaru, follow a dirt road into the horizon, and see what comes shaking your car in the middle of the night. Glad Sheldon took his pipe dream to the end of the road and can still make it back home. Another gem, Sharron.
Thank, Sue. I am guessing that Sheldon has not finished his quest. He is young. He has time. Thanks for reading my little stories!
I love your "little stories." What's more, they are perfect literary get-aways for today's frantic, busy people who don't have the time or will to read War and Peace.
Personally, I think posts under seven minutes is what Substack readers want. As a writer here, any longer piece gets serialized. I could be wrong., though.🤪
I agree. I try to keep my sagas to no longer that 2 1/2 pages with photos to break up the print. My attention span wears out reading pieces longer than that. It's just too much to digest sometimes. But that's my problem. Younger people are so busy ... as they always have been. There's just took much to do.
And so much time wasted on screens. Myself included.
Guilty as charged. Hours and hours here.
I believe that all adventures (experiences) good and bad are cumulative and subjective and thus, with few exceptions, should never be regretted. A guy like Sheldon may have had regrets later in life if he had never explored his "wild side."
Hope all is well in Santa Cruz my friend!
Whenever I made a mistake, a bad choice, or did something shameful, my old mom would always say, "It is all learning, honey." We just learn from our errors and remember. I agree, Sheldon DID need to go out and explore. All young people should. Thanks Jim. All is well here in Santa Cruz. Full of crazies, but that is nothing new. We are getting our yearly rain, thank goodness. Are your hurricanes over for the year? What months are storm months there?
Katy was a wise woman. I guess you need the rain out there so I'm sure you are thankful. We are in a period of delightful weather and have been spending a lot of time on the boat. Hurricane season starts in June and ends in November. Hoping for a quiet season but we always prepare for the worst.
Understood. My earthquake preparedness boxes are always up to date and ready. (sigh)
Great character! Love him! That you don’t know where those characters come from is called talent, Sharron. Keep them coming, please.!
Glad you liked Sheldon Bachmann. I like him, too. He gave it his all and I have no doubt he will keep at it in one way or another.
Love finding other flash fiction writers on here! Loved this piece :)
Welcome, Caroline. Thanks for dropping by here at 🌿LEAVES, my tiny micro-fiction meteor in the great Substack universe. Glad you found me, glad to have you aboard!
Thanks Sharron!
Wonderful title, Sharron. It seems when we want to be free to roam, we are just running from ourselves. For a few years, I hung out in bars and clubs after work. It wasn't a life. It was an in-between lives until I rediscovered my life.
An apt place to wait, apparently, while seeking true inspiration. We have all been there. You surprise me, KC.
For four years, I hung out in bars and drank at every opportunity. But it all ended forty-four years ago when I arrived in El Paso to marry a gal I had only seen three times prior. I began to live again and write.
Now, there's a story in the making if I ever heard one! Give that gal a big old kiss. Right now!
Boy does that bring back memories. STEPPENWOLF.
Ha ha ha. It sure does! Thank you for poking around in the Leaves archive, Linda