Pulling on your helmet...

Is a great way to get rid of stress.

Whoops, hang on, that doesn't sound quite right... That sounds like I'm advocating jerking off as a way to rid yourself of tension. It does, but that's not the point I'm trying to make here so we'll drop it here before it gets out of hand...

What I mean to say is that pulling on a crash helmet and going for a drive along familiar roads is a good way to blow the cobwebs out of your mind. And this is exactly what I did yesterday when I hopped onto my Vespa and headed out of Edinburgh towards Dunbar.

As I left the outskirts of Edinburgh and approached my old haunting grounds of Musselburgh I gave a thought to the many happy times I'd spent in and around Musselburgh with friends and lovers long lost in the mists of time.

I've some very happy memories of days spent in Musselburgh with my ex girlfriend Katy and her family but I didn't dwell on them too long as I passed the bench where Katy and I went our separate ways many moons ago.

This night was not the time for sad thoughts and regret so I kept on moving. I left Musselburgh and headed along the coast road towards places not visited in many a year. (Though I will admit that my heart skipped a beat or two when I drove past where Katy used to live.)

Onto the coast road I opened the gas, felt the wind blow the sadness out of my mind and concentrated only on the ribbon of road ahead of me. The sun was dropping low in the sky and as I scooted along I'd take the occasional glance to my left to see the orange hues of the late evening sun paint the sky like Monet could only fantasise about.

Dunbar came into view a half an hour later and I drove along the High Street towards the harbour where I parked. In the distance the Bass Rock sat giving off a strange cream coloured glow in the setting sun, kids fished from the end of the harbour and I sat and watched the sunset with a cigarette in one hand and a bottle of water in the other.

A few people were walking on the sands and I pondered who they were. What did they do for a living? Were they happy? Was life being good to them? Did they have kids and a family or were they alone in the world with only friends for company? Many questions whizzed through my mind and I had no answers to any of them. As is so often the case.

"Nice night." Said a voice behind me.
I turned around and saw who was speaking. "Beautiful." I said. But not in reply to her statement. A blonde haired woman with green eyes stood there. She was wearing jeans and a sweatshirt that had the initials LSU across the front.

"Tis ain't it." She said. I noticed a southern twang in her accent.
"Sorry, I was thinking out loud." I said, flicking my cigarette into the harbour behind me.
"Pardon?" She asked, unsure of what I had meant.
"That was the first thing I thought when I saw you standing there." I said.
"Aww, that's sweet." She said, blushing slightly.
"Nice bike." She said. The sun reflected off her hair and it shone with a golden glint.
"Huh?" I asked. Having totally forgotten that I was sitting on one.
"Your bike?" She said, pointing to the bike beneath me.
"Oh, right, sorry. I was miles away." I said.
"I'll leave you alone, looks like y'all're deep in thought." She said.

The realisation that if I didn't snap out of it this beauty would walk away and I'd never see her again struck me. "No!" I snapped. "I mean, no, it's fine. I was just taken aback by you." She smiled a million dollar smile and I got off the bike and offered her my hand. "I'm Duke." I said, not quite knowing why I had chosen this moment in time to road test a new name.

"Penny." She said, taking my hand and shaking it. Her skin was silken and soft and I shivered at her touch. "Nice to meet you." She continued.
"Do you live around here? Or are you just on a visit from the states?" I asked.
"I'm here with work." She said.
"What do you do?" I asked.
"Conservation studies." She replied.
"Birds and shit?" I said, letting my default language pack take over.
She laughed and said "Quite literally. Most days all I see is birds and shit."
"How about you? What do you do?" She enquired.
"I don't really know." I answered.
"Isn't that a problem when it comes to payday?" She joked.
"It would be if I got paid. I guess you could say I'm a struggling artist." I said.
"Wow, do you paint?" She asked.
"No, I write. Sometimes. I'm kinda going through a blank phase right now." I replied.
"Have you ever been published?" She enquired.
"Only if you count a letter to a newspaper." I said.

She glanced at her watch and I took this to mean that the conversation was about to come to an end. "Well Duke it was a pleasure meeting you. Good luck with the writing." She said, which I figured meant that we were about to part.

"I don't suppose you'd like to take a walk along the beach with me?" I asked.
"Yeah, why not. I'm out for a walk anyway." She replied.

I chained my helmet to my bike and we set off to the beach. The sun was dropping towards the horizon and the sky was an orange and red tinted canvas above us. We strolled along the beach chatting about this and that... Where she was from, how she ended up in Dunbar, whether she was married or single, where I came from and what it was like.

We must have walked about a mile or so when she said that she really should be thinking about getting back. I offered to walk her home but she said it wasn't far and in the opposite direction to my bike. I smiled and thanked her for her company and the conversation and watched as she headed up the beach and back into the streets of Dunbar.

I walked back to my bike and drove home with a smile on my face. Which strangely had nothing to do with the fact I was on my bike on familiar roads.