For Medicinal Purposes

I’ve got a rather cheerful demeanour. I always try to keep a smile on my face and take life’s low points with a grain of salt (and a lime wedge, and a shot of tequila). But every year at about this time I get a case of the blues which usually lasts a few weeks. I can feel it coming on and I dread it more than just about anything else. The symptoms are consistent from year to year: lack of enthusiasm, no energy, mildly depressive, etc…

The root of my problem is quite simple: I hate winter. I don’t like the cold and all the little inconveniences it brings. Numb toes, scraping the windshield, salty pant cuffs, slippery sidewalks: these are a few of my least favourite things. Above all, the idea of putting away the bike for (at least) four months is what really gets to me.

You see, for me the motorcycle truly does represent “The Perfect Vehicle” as Melissa Holbrook Pierson so eloquently wrote. When I’m riding, I’m much more aware of my surroundings. I feel the bike under me, and I know that by shifting my weight a certain way, the bike will react accordingly. Freshly cut hay fields and pine forests offer a sensory buffet; while the bike sometimes hums, and other times sings.

For me, that remains the best therapy for dealing with life’s ups and downs. Maybe it’s simply the thought of losing those daily “sessions” that eventually gets to me and brings on the dreaded cabin fever blues.

The upside (and yes, there really is one) is that absence makes the heart grow fonder; and when spring rolls around and I pull the tarp off of my two-wheeled steed, all is wonderful in the world yet again.