a tribute to the motorcycling community

Today was a lovely Indian Summer day, i.e. blue sky with temps in the mid 70s F (24 C.) I had two spare hours in the afternoon so I decided to go for a short ride, get some wind in my face, and maybe even a blip. But before leaving I took the above photo of my reflection in the gas cap as I was wheeling the bike out of the garage (and before I put on my helmet). And this is the only photo of the day.
The first part of the ride was great  - gorgeous scenery, sparse traffic, and lots of wind in my face. Then I stopped for gas with the intention of going on to one of my favorite remote places to take pictures. But...the bike didn't start back up! I was so relieved that I had stopped for gas first, rather than going to a remote place and turning off the bike.
  I knew right away it was a dead battery, and I knew I had motorcycle jumper cables. But I did not know how to get to the battery, or where to find another motorcycle to jump me. Then I remembered there was a Kawasaki dealer about half a mile away, so I started hoofing it. Now Kaws are imported, i.e. metric, unlike the American made Harleys. But the guys there were game to try to help me out, and one drove me back (Gee, he drove his car to work, rats!) with his ill fitting tools and a fresh battery for jumping. Turns out all that was needed was a phillips head screwdriver to release the seat and get access to the battery, and then I was ready to roll again. 
In the meantime, I got talking with a customer at the Kawasaki shop who had brought in his wife's bike for service, but who rides an Indian motorcycle (Harley's American made rival). After he got his wife's bike back, he came to where I was stranded to make sure the jump worked, and then followed me all the way home to make sure I made it.
If only the world worked together like this!