Musings from “Life Is a Road” author–Daniel Meyer
Friends
Stormrider…
Jul 14th
Yeah, about two minutes after I took this pic I hit this horrendous storm…75mph down the freeway…cold rain and windy…soaked in seconds…lightning hitting all around…thunder cracking so loud I could feel it. ‘Wrath of God-type stuff.’
100 miles of that. Then a break…just about enough to dry out…then I hit it again. I felt like I was going through a washing machine…miles of horrendous rains, then dry out. Lather. Rinse. Repeat. There was never any light rain. It was either on…or off.
Probably 400 miles of rain alltogether.
And then there’s me, laughing my ass off…passing the trucks…splashing in the rain…riding as fast as I could see and yelling to the storms, “Is that all you’ve got!?”
Just a fraction below out of control…for hundreds of miles.
So…I’m a little bit nuts. Maybe I knew that.
It rained so hard…that 100 miles after I left the storms…after a 100 miles of dry roads…I stopped for fuel and as I was dripping on the floor at the gas station the clerk asks, “What the hell happened to you?”
Made it here. Tire’s holding up. Having a good time. 300 Valkyries all in one place…more on the way. Some of the finest people you could ever meet riding them in. Social when I need it, but in minutes I can be alone, speeding down the open road.
Perfect.
Out on the road again. I’ve needed this. I might come back.
Y’all be safe…or at least fun.
CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer
Zoom zoom!
Jun 10th
I helped my friend Susanne pick up her new motorcycle at lunch today…
The new Shadow…
That’s a 2007 Honda Shadow 750. 3000-something miles. Red and flames. No scratches/dings etc. Very nice bike. She also did very well on the price.
The new Shadow with its new rider. Looks even better with the blonde on it, yes?
Gotta say…a lunch ride beats an actual lunch any day of the week.
Ride on Susanne!
Zoom Zoom!
CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer
Artfest Fun
May 24th
The 2010 Clarksville Fine Arts Festival was a blast!
Lots of food, great music, and pretty good weather made for a fun day. Lots of high-caliber artists with quality wares made for a “target-rich” environment for the discerning collecter.
I sold some books, made some friends, and generally mucked about having a good time.
Krashdragon came all the way out from Cleburne to pick up a book! THANKS for coming out! It was great to meet ya!
I expect to see the rest of ya’ll for next years festival!
CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer
Valks in Clarksville
Mar 29th
A good bunch of the Texas VRCC riders braved heavy, gusting winds and cooler morning temperatures and dropped by Clarksville Sunday.
The trip was to eat some fine Italian food and scope out the Old Vic.
About 16 riders from the Dallas area, and we even had riders from Texarkana!
I had the Left-Handed Fargle-Snorker on the square to work on the tower my evil headquarters and so was in a unique position to see them arrive.
I think everybody enjoyed the lunch, and those that toured the Old Vic and the evil headquarters had a good time (most universally expressed sympathy at the amount of work we’ve got to do LOL!).
I must say…leading from the square to the Old Vic…I’ve never led a motorcycle group with a bucket truck before…
Oh, and Jeff “Wanderer” L. managed to capture and subdue a wild BMW thing in the yard…and is is usually the case when one manages a … feat … of such note, there were about 20 witnesses.
Most with cameras.
Alas…no real harm was done (Wanderer’s Ego is un-damageable) and the captured BMW thing was released unharmed.
We really enjoyed having y’all…and if you feel like you need some “skills” in the remodeling department bring your work clothes and we’ll have some lessons for ya!
CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer
The 2010 Clarksville Fine Arts Festival
Feb 25th
Make your plans now!
This year the 2010 Clarksville Fine Arts Festival will be Saturday, May 22, 2010, from 9:AM to 4:PM on the historic square in Clarksville, Texas.
This year’s festival is shaping up to be a great one. There will even be glass blowing demonstrations!
I’ll be there signing books and will also have original art and some prints.
Art. Music. Food. Fun. What else could you need? Come on by and see me!
CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer
Well…there *was* pie!
Oct 21st
Took the long way home from work yesterday…250 miles worth by the end of it. A great ride, and I needed it…sometimes serious blasting down the highway is the only way to blow the cobwebs out. Commuting, no matter how enthusiastically speedy, simply doesn’t cut it then.
A run to Hico for some pie and to meet some new friends.
A big shout out to Darlene and Andy, visiting from Canada. Darlene managed to get Andy all the way to Texas for a little surprise (Andy, I’d keep an eye on her 
).
They brought me a new Gremlin bell, which is timely as my current one was worn out.
I hope you enjoyed your visit to Texas!
Thanks for the pie and the bell!
A 250 mile run home from work?
Well there was pie!
CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer
Steel and earth and fire and blood…
Jun 22nd
Indulge me if you would…and take a moment to listen…
I heard this song this morning…it popped out of my mp3 player on the way to work…I didn’t even know I had it. A message perhaps. Not the strangest thing that’s happened to me over the years (and miles). Not by a long shot.
I was instantly overwhelmed by intense feelings. A person lost to me and all the feelings we’d experienced together leapt to mind. It’s been a year now since that story…the untold tales…and the unlived chapters closed…unexpectedly and rather harshly.
It shouldn’t have been so hard…that year ago. My part in her story was over long ago…a decade? Two? I was not a part of her story way before her final page was written.
That final page…A year ago.
Really? A year? Perhaps that triggered the strongest feelings of all. Just where do all the days go? How do I not notice? What opportunities have shot by unnoticed as well?
I had to look in my journal to be sure…and that made me feel guilty. Once…I would have known the exact second…but there’s been so many over the years. So many seconds. So many memories. So many lost possibilities. The strength of the memories matters little, when there are so many of this intensity.
Passion as a principle has its cost.
Yes, it had been a year. More actually. That meant it was time to ride.
I left work…pushing hard into the heat. A hundred mile ride just to brush my fingers on the rough stone. The monument was cool depite the blistering heat of the day, but to my surprise there was nothing here for me.
That confused me even more. Surely there would be something special in this place?
Turns out there was only the dead.
It took a moment to realize…no…there was nothing special here because that essence…that presense I expected…as with many more that have touched my life…was with me all the time.
Never far away…
Passion as principle has its benefits too.
The journal:
Friday, February 01, 2008
A restless night.
Tomorrow is a day of steel and fire and blood and earth.
Welding in the morning…the 65mph winds we had over several days this week took down part of one of the barns at the family farm…snapped steel supports. I’ll be jacking it back into position and welding it together in the morning.
The afternoon…yeah. The afternoon. If it was a movie it’d be raining.
Instead it’ll be a glorious day. I’ll be riding to yet another funeral.
Another part of my past has left me alone to try and understand what it was we had…wondering if it ever mattered…and what it might have become had we given it more of a chance.
I’m supposed to speak.
Just what do I say?
“We were lovers once…and we touched the sky.”
Yeah. That was long ago…and our lives had gone different directions.
“We were lovers once…and we touched the sky.”
That would not go over well…
Can’t sleep tonight. The part of me that understands fire and steel howls. The darkside smells the blood and claws its way out. The rational man doesn’t wish to contain it. He wishes…he has always wished…to see it run free…and he has never dared…
The warden said, “Fuck it” and has opened the gate. “Quiet desperation” be dammed.
Passion boils. Mortality looms. Experience cries for sating its ravenous hunger.
Lust. Pure and powerful. Raw and primal, yet surprisingly complicated. Its focus scattered. Its targets unclear. Its drive absolutely relentless.
And this night…I am alone. Even the magical touch of a woman denied me.
Damn the male brain anyway.
The Dragon gleams in the garage…and I think it may be time to ride…to scream into the night and see how much we can take…push ourselves beyond the edge of endurance…substituting one kind of pain for another.
Tomorrow is for steel and fire and blood and earth.
Tonight may be as well.
I’ll see you on the road.
(end journal entry)
Steel and earth and fire and blood.
Never far away…
Yeah…
I’ll see you on the road.
CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer
Valk Riders at the Old Vic
Jan 27th
Had several Valkyrie riders come and visit the wife and I at the Old Vic this weekend. Glad to see them!
Left to right…Speedo, Rainmaker, and Thalas’shaya.
‘Twas a cold day for a ride so they spent some time inside, warming up and swapping stories.
Great to see you’all (technical Texas term). I look forward to the day when the house is in a fit state for entertaining!
CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer
The Passing of a Rider…
Dec 24th
I regret to announce that forum member Jack Williams, known on the forum by his username bearded_one60 passed away unexpectedly last Thursday from complications of pneumonia and a heart attack.
Jack was an active biker and forum participant, rode a Valkyrie, and was from the Dallas area.
Y’all take a moment to remember him and his family in this holiday season.
And take a moment to remember your loved ones too…
Life’s short…let’s ride.
CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer
Happy Thanksgiving Everybody!
Nov 27th
Happy Thanksgiving! Hope you’re having a good one. I have to work tonight, but good things are cooking in the ovens and on the stove, and family will be here for lunch. Yum!
Take a moment to pause in the hustle and bustle and ponder just what you’re thankful for.
I’m thankful for my wife, my lover, and my friend (yes, she’s the same person) Carey. My family, my health, and the fact that whatever problems we may have, that I live in the greatest country on the planet.
I’m thankful for my friends…knowing there are people like that gives hope in the darkest hours, and joy in the pleasent times.
I’m thankful for opportunities, and the imagination and “gumption” to pursue them. I’m thankful for the restlessness that drives me, even when it drives me crazy.
I’m thankful for you, my readers, and the privilage of your allowing me to share my experiences with you.
What are you thankful for?
CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer