I Needed It Bad

ALOHA Dear Friend!

How did I live without it for so long?

I haven't had a functioning two-wheeled vehicle
for a while now.







My 1973 BMW R75/5
(the one that was built from the frame-out just for me
and painted a unique lilac colour)
had served me well:
I looked GREAT on it!

But it was getting taller, and heavier all the time.
I was like the curator of a precious antique,
and began to dream of something smaller...

I began dreaming about my old Honda Magna that had helped
me to found a women's motorcycle club...



About the beautiful, handmade, Italian Moto Morini


that he almost bought for me 25 years ago...



That day when my brother and I saw the other kids in the neighborhood
skateboarding with store-bought rides
and caught the same fever
riding every day after school till dark for months...




About that Rupp mini-bike that Joey B showed up with one day,
wowing all of us kids
who angled for "just one ride PLEASE"
and then the uncanny freedom
of flying through the Summer neighborhood,
smelling the cut grass, hearing the birds,
SOARING under the open skies
of childhood...




Then there was the life guard at the pool
who rode a Lambretta
and took me along for under-aged rides
that I never forgot;
There's just SOMETHING about a man on two wheels.


Biker culture
plays a key role in my Hawaii novel
'Aloha Where You Like Go?'
as it has in my life.
(scroll ALL the way down for a link to amazon :)
And I liked being the tough, sexy chick
on the amazing bike.


But now I just want to have fun.




So this week
for my birthday
I got a brand new
brand-name Japanese Scooter!





It's official, all my old biker friends:
I am now a wimp. (Scooter!)





It's light and fun and just right for me.
I'm outside instead of hunched over this keyboard
for hours a day.




Suddenly there are a million places to visit,
things to do,
and just the joy of being in the wind.




How did I live without it for SO long?




Funny how one thing
can make everything
NEW again!




I'm just having SO much fun.




This island is perfect for such a machine.
It is a licensed motor vehicle
and can handle the major highways.
But I can pull over anywhere
and snap a few photos easily
now that my camera lives in the
cup holder.




I'm not riding a moped!
That will come when I'm even older :)
right before the mobility scooter.
Beep! Beep!




So please forgive me
if I haven't commented at your place lately.




I'll be back,
I want to know what's happening with you.




Even though I know I'm having the most fun right now...




Vroom Vroom! Beep Beep!

I mean:
'ALOHA' cloudia