Rat Rider

So, anything interesting in the news lately?  I didn't think so.

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You'd never know it from the paucity of my posts but I spend a lot of time pondering past posts, some going way back.  Plenty of topics to chew on and my internal dialogues can get quite spirited which is good enough for me.  I don't feel compelled to share every goofy notion that leaks out of my brain pan, so y'all can use your own imaginations.  By the way, are you still us, Mr. Beagles?  I see Uncle Ken is posting regularly with his watercolor folk, a good direction for him, I think.

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B.F. Skinner, eh?  That brings back some fuzzy memories from way back when.  The term "rat runners" is new to me, so thank you Uncle Ken.  I don't know what you can make of this bit of info but for many decades the rat has been a personal spirit animal of mine.  I don't know why, maybe being born in the Chinese Year of the Rat has something to do with it.  Consequently, I had a nice rubber rat mounted on the fender of my bike, so realistic that my grandmother started swatting it with a broom.  I don't know if it was a good luck charm with heavy Ju-Ju but as long as that rat was on the bike I had no problems on the road, bike always ran beautifully.  But parking it on Damen Avenue came with a cost; some mope ripped it off the fender.  No easy task, it was securely riveted to the fender with a thick piece of aluminum in the belly of the rat.  Since that loss the bike started deteriorating with electrical and mechanical problems, a cracked frame, little odds & ends, you name it.  And it got frequently knocked over while parked; the bright orange bike became invisible once the rat was gone.  Some folks might attribute the cause of the problems due to the fact that the bike was over forty years old but I don't think so.  Once the rat was gone the spirit of the bike had flown but it was a joy while it lasted.