This post was inspired by all of the life we’ve had going on for a while, and trying to find my own balance in the middle of the chaos.
Part of what has me recently thinking about this was inspired by my brother’s funeral, the chaos of day-to-day bullshit, and becoming an Ordained Dudeist Priest.
Yeah, I know. It’s a bit of a fun gimmick, but at the same time, there is truth in the values and principles of the “Order”, which fall in line with a lot of the mindset of the Easy Rider lifestyle.
The most basic principle of Dudeism is to enjoy, experience, and otherwise live life, not be bound up to the rigorous humdrum of day jobs, kids, chores, ect.
The short and sweet, Living, not just Existing.
The Easy Rider outlook is similar. Fonda’s act of throwing away the watch in the opening scene of the movie Easy Rider is a perfect example of letting your give a shit break, and not adhering to Normalcy.
To me, as a young kid growing up in the 70s, seeing these grubby bikers with their long hair and beards, riding loud ass bikes felt both right and exhilarating.
Even for the young me who didn’t understand even a tiny percent of what it all meant, the Easy Rider lifestyle felt like freedom. It was a way to be WHO I wanted to be, regardless of what anyone else in my life thought.
My brother’s passing has only solidified that thought in more ways than one. Lee would have been 45 on August 8th. Way too young for anyone healthy to just drop. But he lived as much as he could. He spent as much time as he could with his wife and kids, going on trips and experiencing the world. Damn good way to spend the limited time we have, in my opinion. Yeah, those of us with families and mortgages have to hold down day jobs to pay the bills, but that doesn’t mean we can’t still experience life.
And to do that doesn’t mean constantly going on cruises or traveling the world. You can still experience what the world offers in your local area, going places, talking to folks, and learning at every turn.
Life is what you make it, man.
That being said, I finally had a chance recently to channel my inner Braxton and toss in a line. After a little hike back into the Chickamauga Battlefield, I found a choice spot. I even managed to dictate a chunk of the next story while I waited for a fish to nibble on the bait.
Josie tear down and repairs
Besides fishing, I love to turn wrenches and tinker, but it sucks when something I’m relying on breaks.
The stock plastic crap clutch cable on Josie did just that. Luckily, it waited till I was pulling into the shop instead of while I was riding the Dragon with Talerider the week before. So instead of replacing it with stock, I called up Barnett Clutch cables and ordered a solid old school style cable, and it is as smooth as butter.
When I originally did the build on Veronica, I called them up and ordered all new clutch and throttle cables since I’d put mini apes on her.
And while I had the exhaust off, she got an extra little modification and breaths so much better. 😉
Next up will be new rubber, because the tires are getting close to bald. But I have a new set already in the shop.
Veronica Rebuild and Repairs
I parked Veronica (1996 Vulcan VN800A) after returning from a Memorial Day trip to West Virginia just over three years ago. After getting back, lots of life happened. My brother-in-law passed downstairs, and pretty much the next year was taking care of his widow, estate, and clearing the downstairs to repurpose the space.
So Veronica sat quietly in the shop.
When I finally pulled her out to get her tuned up and ready last year, I found she had some serious wiring issues going on.
I was getting her cleaned up and ready to take the Word Witch for a run, and it just tore me up. I ended up doom scrolling for a while after that, looking at new bikes, because I wanted something reliable that wouldn’t possibly break often and had a larger engine to accommodate me and the Witch. 800cc is good for just me. But with both of us, it lagged something awful, especially on takeoff, and that to me was a safety issue.
But during that doom scroll I found Josie, so it ain’t all bad.
So, after we got back from the funeral trip, I tore into Veronica. I cleaned and tuned the carb, repaired the wiring issue, and gave her a new paint job while I was at it. I think I found her dirty little personality finally.
Garden updates
Not a lot of garden updates. The main beds are fallow this year, possibly even next year, giving me a chance to catch up on other things. But I did get the herb bed cleaned up and things put in the ground.
Currently Working On
Basically, I’m cranking through the backlog of Three Ravens titles as fast as I can to get them out to the world and off my plate. Otherwise, I’ve been working on Braxton shorts and the first Braxton Novel as much as possible.
Recent Releases
Like I said, I’ve been writing as often and as much as possible while I get my slate cleared. So the pickings have been a little slim. If you’d like to check out a title, click the image.
Other than that, it’s day-to-day BS, and putting as many miles under me as possible.
Speaking of which, Dave Harris, who runs the 365 riders group on Facebook, recently opened it up to anyone who loves bike content. Go give it a look.
And of course, our growing Clowder
Writing Tip
This one is easy. Don’t make an ass of yourself toward editors and publishers. You might end up on their blacklist.
And I’ll leave you with a funny and a song
Keep your heads up and your pens sharp
~WJR~
If you enjoy my posts and want to see behind-the-scenes sneak peeks at my writing, go check out my Patreon account.
There will be a new Braxton short up soon for my paid subscribers.