I get lots of comments on my vest and leathers; some seem to think I’m wearing them as a fashion statement; others think it’s ‘cute’. Yes, when I first started riding, I bought all kinds of patches, because I liked them all and the way they looked on my vest.  I’ve gradually removed patches that weren’t “personal” to me and now everything I have tells something about me.

It’s  like my Facebook wall, or a scrapbook. The patches and pins I wear each have a story. For example, the patch I wear on my back is this one:

Bikers and riders who belong to an MC, RC or MM wear their club patch on their back, usually with nothing else, especially if they have to earn the patch.  Because Randy and I aren’t affiliated with any club, we wear this patch to show honor and respect to our military.  (We do belong to the Patriot Guard, but it’s not considered a club.)

Along the bottom back of our vests, we wear patches that tell about significant events.  I’ve got a patch from the Tail of the Dragon (where I learned to trust myself in curves, as well as trusting God to take care of me in all situations), the Apalachicola  Escort (we were part of a mile’s worth of bikes riding to escort the moving wall through parts of Florida, while thousands of people stood along side the road to salute the Viet Nam veterans who rode with us), and the 2009 Thunder Beach Spring Rally.

The front of my vest has pins that have special meaning to me.  On my right side, under my name patch are ten little metal heart charms, one for each of my grandchildren: Hunter, Dylan,  Chloe, Khloe, Layney, Destiny, Nevaeh, Reid, Talan and Esme.

On the left side, under my PGR patch, are mission pins.  Some missions were funerals for military or emergency first responders; others were welcome-home missions.

Some patches are for specific people- Bill “Snap” Lines was a great friend to everyone in the PGR; when he was killed in a traffic accident, some of his friends had a special patch made up.

And finally, I have some that are funny, but tell a little about me;  for example this one:

I always enjoyed watching “I Dream of Jeannie” when I was young; no matter how much she tried to help, she ended up causing trouble more times than not. I kinda feel like that most days.

Of course, these are only some of my pins and patches; you’ll just have to check out the rest of them the next time you see me. If you have other friends who ride, check out their vest as well.  Every one is individual, so you’ll probably learn something.

And as for the question of leather chaps and jacket – I do enjoy the look and feel of the leather, but  I wear my leathers for the same reason I wear a seatbelt – safety.  If I go down, they offer another layer of protection between the road’s surface and me.

See you on the road!

In south central Alabama, where I live, it’s very unusual to have snow, much less enough to shut down schools, businesses and roads in the area. But that’s exactly what happened on Friday. We got about 4 inches of snow altogether, and it was beautiful!

Three of our granddaughters and their dad made a snowman in the front yard, threw snowballs and tasted snow. I hope they made lots of good memories because they may not ever get another chance to see this much snow. I only remember two other times like this: the last time was in 1993,  and snow piled up in drifts everywhere; some ditches had snow for a week afterwards.

The only other time I remember was in the mid-70s.  Snow was 7 or 8 inches deep on top of cars and everything was covered. My dad’s parents, who always seemed very strait-laced to my brothers and I, actually got out and built a snowman with us – they had never seen snow.

It was fun to act like a kid again- I’m glad I live in a place where commonplace miracles like snow can make such a huge difference in my day.

Our youngest grandson and his mom and sister were at my mother-in-law’s house today; his mom says he loves to put things on his head, as evidenced by this photo.  It’s funny- my kids never wanted to wear hats or anything else on their heads, and here’s Talan looking for things to use.

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