How the Beast was Awakened

Earlier today, while riding back from a doctor's appointment in Snellville, I took the long way home on my Triumph. Passing southeast of town, I rode back country roads by pasturelands and wooded communities. Suddenly I found myself at an old familiar place on Rosebud Road, that brought back vivid memories for me. In 1996, I was driving this same road, and came upon a motorcycle at the end of a long driveway, with a "For Sale" sign on it. The bike, a Honda V65 Magna (of the type pictured above), was beautiful- shiny black and chrome, with gold lettering and striping. Looked showroom condition. I was struck by the bike, pulled over to "gawk and drool" over it, and found myself intentionally finding reasons to drive by it again and again over the subsequent week. Then one day, it was gone.
I had grown up around motorcycles, as I describe in my book, "Road Dirt", available on Amazon Books and Amazon Kindle (http://www.amazon.com/Road-Dirt-Musings-Ramblings-Preacher/dp/1492360104/ref=sr_1_1/188-0280032-0865122?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1411424332&sr=1-1&keywords=road+dirt+the+musings+%26+ramblings). Seeing this bike "awakened the beast" in me, so to speak, and I started back on the journey toward the world of motorcycling. I've since owned a Suzuki VS800 Intruder, a Yamaha Royal Star (still have it), a Kawasaki ZR-7s, a Triumph Sprint 955 ST (still have it too), and various others I have bought & sold. I've ridden north/south/east/west across America, logging thousands upon thousands of miles over the years. Riding has brought me many friendships, many treasured memories, and many opportunities to share and live out my faith in Christ with others. It's been a great ride, for sure (pun intended).
And to think it all started with a small roadside encounter in 1996...