Scat Singing: How to Be a Cat Loving Scooter Rider

I've kind of wondered when I'd fall in love again. It's been quite a while, like seven years. But here I go again.

I haven't had a lot of time or much of a chance to ride my new scooter but the brief times I have had, I find I just can't get enough. There is nothing remotely like it in my life. It feels like I'm zooming a million miles an hour and quite frankly when I'm on my bike zipping around the side streets of my neighborhood I'm not exactly sure how fast I'm going since the speedometer measures speed in kilometers per hour. Damn it I knew I should have paid attention all those years ago when they tried to teach us the metric system!

I've gotten the scooter near 60 kilometers per hour and I've since learned that is about 37 miles per hour. It's both scary and exhilarating going that fast in the open air. While racing around town there have been a couple of times I've passed motorcycles headed the other direction where the motorcyclist gives me a secret hand signal as if to tell me they approve of my bike. Of course they're probably mocking me as they could ride circles around me but still I tell myself that I've joined a secret little fraternity that those loser car and SUV drivers will never understand.

Over the past few weeks I've also finally gotten a chance to spend some time with my kitties. It's nice to have good listeners around. (Upon further analysis I have discovered there are exactly two good human listeners in my life and one of those I don't get to talk to much anymore.) I love how I can tell by listening to their footsteps on the carpet which cat is approaching me. I love when Theolonius badgers Thompson and the two end up wrestling up a cloud of cat fur. I love how Diego will get his face right in mine and purr as deeply as a lion.

I've learned there is a connection between life as an honorary cat and as a scooter rider. Every little bump in the road presents a moment when I can lose control of my scooter and go flying into a world full of pain. Every corner of my house represents a similar obstacle for my three cats. Skid a little too fast across the wood floor and danger lurks right in front of your face.

The more significant connection however comes in learning to constantly live in the moment. For Thompson, Diego-san, and Theo, life forever exists in the here and now. Yes they are capable of taking a lesson learned and applying it later on so the same mistake isn't made over and over. For example, Theo used to greet me right at the front door. But one time he stood too close and I whacked him when I swung the door open and entered the house. He now hangs back, if not runs away, when I get home.

Likewise it's not that I don't pay attention when I'm driving my car because I am a rather careful driver. I signal every turn unlike 80 percent of the other dreadful drivers out there. But when driving my car I can drift off and think about other things. If I hit a pothole it's probably not like I'm going to lose control of my vehicle. The same cannot be said when riding my scooter. I have to pay extra attention to everything around me because if the car next to me drifts I'm not going to come out ahead in that battle.

I learned this lesson first hand the other day. I was scooting down Lexington Avenue during rush hour. My mind wasn't on the task at hand and I hit a bump in the road that almost caused me to lose control for a second. I didn't but my heart started beating bunny rabbit faster. The same thing hasn't happened again because believe you me I now am forever in the present whenever I ride my scooter. Yup just like my friend the Dalai Lama and my three splendid cats, riding my scooter is a great reminder of how a life is better lived living right now than worrying about what might happen tomorrow or what has already passed me by. I am in love again.