I dismissed these thoughts, as I saw some of them thinking that approaching retirement age, I was just supposed to sit back, take a cruise or just spend my free time with grandkids. At 20, I lived on a houseboat for three months in the red light district of Amsterdam and that same year I ran with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain, which I never thought of as risky to begin with, but then again at 20, nothing seems risky.
aAlready a Beatnik, without being one, in my late teens, I wrote, starting with the therapeutic process of addressing the deflating and dysfunctional relationship with my dad. It kept me from jumping off the pier in my teen years in Ventura, California. I basically wrote the beat genre of poetry until my last year of teaching in 2016, when two Japanese students suggested I try Haiku to accommodate and support some pictures I had posted in my room of my travels. I’ve embraced and enjoyed the new discovery of Haiku Poetry addressing my daily travels not necessarily gluing to the changing four seasonal format rule. I now have five Haiku books completed and a third beatnik effort coming out in 2025.
Both of my parents had passed before this new life emerged. Until recently at 68, DNA assisted, I didn’t have knowledge that I was a parent and grandfather, which I thoroughly enjoy now but that was not going to change my thirst for photography, camping, local diners and adventure, which started eight years earlier. I had decided early on that I was going to be on the journey alone, as my partner Maggie said no thanks and made sure my living trust was up to date on each new journey. Ha. As a solo rider now, a friend and colleague across the hall from my room, tagged me with the road name Lobo Solitario, Lone Wolf. I have a beautiful hand painted wolf on both sides of my gas tank which gathers lots of admirers and comments.
After several years or travel, 11 now and over two hundred thousand miles on three different rides, I can honestly say that my Haikus directly relate to my pictures as it encapsulates the moment I’m in. I’m discovering America three lines at a time. Enjoy the journey to Motorcycle Haiku and all its discoveries
