By early November those of us in the North Country have got to come to terms with the idea of winter. Nothing like turning the clocks back, plunging us into eternal night, to bring that home. Sure, you gain an hour in the early morning, but I'm a night owl. Dawn is a wonderful way to end the evening, not start the day.
With that in mind we finally got around to pulling the raft out of the lake. Last year my son-in-law and a friend did it as I'd been down to Florida since September. This year there were three of us and overall it went well. By well I mean we got the raft on dry land and no one fell in the lake. When the occasional snowflake blows by you really don't want to go for a swim.
While we were doing that little job my lovely wife was putting the lawn and garden to bed. She discovered that there is some fall plant, we aren't sure which one, that triggers allergies. After her little project she had to take some allergy pills and have a little rest until they kicked in. Eventually we will discover which plant, or plants, cause this seasonal problem and eliminate it.
For a brief while the temperature got above freezing. That's when I took the opportunity to give the motorcycle a quick scrub down with detergent and a brush. Once the worse of the gunk was cleaned off I pulled the fuel tank and the battery. The battery is long gone, of course, but the store wants the old one in trade. The fuel lines were cut to hasten the removal of the gas tank. Those lines all need replacement anyway. The tank is in surprisingly good shape -very little rust at all.
Sometime this week were should have a few days above freezing so I'd like to get the bike started. If it runs, I can drive it into the basement. Then I'll have all winter to pretty it up. A few of my friends have been inspired to fix up their motorcycles so we can all go riding in the spring. That's something to think about during the dark days of winter.
-Sixbears
