Father's Day and Camping Trip

That's Dad.  He was a handsome guy, but whenever he was going to have his photo taken, he put on his Picture Face, which he's wearing in this blurry old scanned photo.  Golf was his game, after he quit playing baseball. He'd have been a professional at baseball if it hadn't been for WWII.  As it was, he was shortstop and manager for a Pacific Coast League team, and he batted clean-up.  

 Speaking of fathers, the one who lives here is off on a motorcycle trip.  He says he's getting one in while he still can, since he doesn't know how long he'll be able to keep doing it.  But he thinks the B-31 will be a good motorcycle for an old guy because it's light, smooth, easy.  Except, he's still having armature troubles.  So though he loaded it up, it's not what he took.  I put a B-31 photo in a few posts ago, and it was one taken while it was still in New Zealand.  He bought it on Ebay many years ago.  It's much nicer now.  Just so you know.

The next bike he loaded up was the 250 Ninja.  It's extremely reliable, nimble, easy, light, and amazingly fast. (He says that about everything).  I failed to get a photo before he unpacked it and put everything on the 750Four Honda.   Can you see the Ninja in the background?  It's the one with all the graphic design and more current stylings.  Here's the Honda all ready to go.  He left yesterday and went up to Goldendale, Washington and met his friends from Seattle.  I'm not sure what all they were riding.  He took the camera, so maybe I'll see photos.

It's a very special bike that used to belong to his step-brother in Ohio.  He was a father, too.

I was out watering the turtle this morning, when I thought I heard thunder.  These days, lots of things make noise that sounds like thunder.  I looked around for neighbors moving their yard scrap recycle barrels.  Those are usually the cause of the sound-like-thunder.  There were some solid grey clouds to the southwest, but my view of the sky is blocked by gables.

A neighbor came over looking for HH, and I asked him if he'd seen any lightning.  He said "No, but I heard it."  Ha! Well, the sound like thunder kept up, and rumbled on in that rolling way it sometimes has, and the clouds got darker, so I decided to start winding up the hose.  Just about the time I was done, it began to pour, and I even caught a glimpse of a flash, and that crack was LOUD.  My back is still wet from moving a planter that doesn't drain in under the eaves.

There's something so exciting about thunder and lightning.  I guess it's because it's so dangerous.  I came in here and looked up all the places HH was on the weather map, and I think he's clear.   He should be home tonight, so we can have fun with Daughter tomorrow.  Don't think I'll plan a picnic.

Scatterbrained

 It's so nice to get flowers.  These are from my daughter's boyfriend's mother.  She has an amazing garden so full of flowers she has plenty to give away.  I got another bunch a couple weeks later.

 The flowers in the mug are an end-of-year gift from the high school where I volunteer.  Notice the sprockets on the fence.  HH knows I like parts, but these are the only ones he'll let me keep.  There's more to the left out of the photo.  The leaf between was made by a friend.

 The BSA Bantam lineup is part of a swap meet at the vintage motorcycle show several unknown number of years ago.  The green one is pretty cute, but HH said restoration would cost too much.  I just thought Avus would maybe think his was a lot nicer than anything here.

 This is a photo of Kenny Dreer with his Norton Commando behind him.  It's a sad and complicated story about how hard he tried and how expensive it was and how eventually there were too many obstacles, but it was pretty exciting to see him and that bike at the vintage motorcycle show.  This photo and the Bantam are so old that they aren't digital.  All I know is they were taken in the past.

HH finally racked up all the miles he needed so he could do the first oil change and retune the bike after the rebuild.  Here's the bike under the Yaquina Bay Bridge looking nothing like a troll.  I'm not sure this will get big if it's clicked, but if it does, it's spectacular.  He was really thrilled with this bike and his ride.  A bit of history now.  The bridge on Hwy 101 was completed in 1936.  When I was a kid during the Cold War days, a Russian ship came under it in the fog.  It was spooky seeing the hammer and sickle through the fog, but it needed repairs and the visit was friendly.