Fire one year ago...

A year ago almost to the day I posted a message here a couple of hours after my truck burned up in a fire. It was a big truck with high sides and loaded up with most of my possessions, including mechanical and carpentry tools, chainsaw, several motored bikes I had built over the winter, motors, parts, clothes, camera, laptop... the list seems endless.
http://motorbicycling.com/f3/fire-18610.html
A lot has transpired in the year since and I am once more packed up and ready to leave in the morning for my forest home in Minnesota. And once again my vehicle, a Jeep Cherokee now, is stuffed like a tick with bicycle parts, engines, possessions and on the back an almost finished motorbike.
Much has happened in my life and in the life of this forum in just one year. I have learned much about this passion of mine for motorbicycling and have become a better builder. I have seen in general the quality of builds here from others take a great leap... there are so many wonderful builds, so much innovation, so much sharing of information. I think this forum has done much to move motor bicycling forward and I'm deeply grateful to be part of this momentum. I have made some wonderful friends here... some of you who came to the rescue with kind words, thoughts and deeds made a very real difference in my life in a physical way of course, but also in the spiritual realm.
Much good came from this fire in spite of the loss. I'm posting this note to let you know, those who were here at the time and remember, that I have not forgotten and never will the good which came my way. I have promised to pass it forward as well as I can and I recommit myself to that principle.
Tonight I will do a pipe ceremony of gratitude and you good people will be remembered in it.
The bike in my avatar was built as a tribute to all of you. http://motorbicycling.com/f38/firebird-silverbears-worksman-cruiser-20529.html
This summer it is going to be rebuilt, once again rising from what was to become something new. With help from my friends the Firebird will become a tribute 1909 Indian tri-car powered by an antique 98cc Villiars 2 stroke. As I work on it, I will remember the fire from which it was born and I will remember all of you good people.
Miigwetch (thank you).
Zhooniiaa Mukwaa (Silverbear)

Thanks for the positive thoughts and words.
I left Eyler's Valley near Camp David at 3:00 AM Monday morning and 24 hours later was in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. I picked up Fasteddy's Villiars engine at Hutchinson, Mn. Tuesday morning and by 2:30 PM was home and unpacking as Moosh chased the resident snowshoe hare. 1400 miles in 35 hours. Pretty good for an old fart. I napped when tired on a foam pad on top of the load in the Jeep... scooching into my nest for an hour or so at a time with engines, parts, tools, clothes, chainsaw, you name it... beneath me, a cruiser on the back of the jeep and up on the rack there was a moped frame, wheels, fenders and what not. The old Jeep was sitting low in back, but what a great cruiser she is with over 200,000 miles on the engine... still going strong, still less than a quart of oil added since last year when I got her.
This journey has been like a step back in the seasons. The Maryland valley I left behind me was lush in new green throughout the mountain forest, with flowering dogwoods and redbud giving color. The cherry, plum and apple blossoms had already come and gone, wisteria blooms hung heavy in the garden, lilacs and flowers of many varieties were in full bloom... and here in the north woods the snow has just melted, the lake is newly free of ice, paper birch and poplar (aspen) are not yet in leaf. Yet, this is what we call spring here and life is emerging, with spring short but a glory. Within a week it will be the traditional time for Indian youth to embark on their vision quests, marked by the poplar leaves being "the size of a beaver'[s ear" as relayed to me by an Ojibwa elder. It is a time when the weather is more mild with night time temps in the upper 30's or low 40's, days warm and not yet time for the hordes of hungry young mosquitoes... so it is a good time to go alone into the forest, to fast and cry for a vision of guidance. It is also a good time for an old fellow and his little dog to be home again with a glorious summer about to unfold.
One of the first things I did was take a look at the bikes left behind, hidden in the bike hauler trailer... the 50 Panther, the Worksman "Indian" to be made into a tri-car this summer, the 34 Elgin 4 star due for a makeover, and Camlifter's Schwinn American. Today I'll take the American out for a spin down the road through the forest to Bearhead Lake. It is so good to be home again. Many thanks to the Creator and to all of you good fellows... journey is done. The fishing opener is this coming Saturday, a very big deal in northeastern Minnesota... woohoo!
SB

timboellner said:

Glad to see you made the trip safely.
Can you take some pictures for us all to see some of mother natures glory?

By the way, I think it might be time for you to start writing a book about your
life and travels. Nobody here can capture an audience with their written
eloquence quite the way you do.

Silverbear and Moosh, a motorbicycling adventure to the center of your mind.

TiM

Click to expand...

You are kind, sir. No book. I once starved as a news feature story writer for a weekly and did free lance writing for a few magazines. I could make more money as a greeter at Walmart. I'd rather starve building bikes. Ha! Looks like it may snow for the fishing opener. Boo to that.
Once spring hath sprung I'll take a few still pictures of my most regular bike route. Fasteddy is bringing a video camera this summer, so we're going to try to make a nice video of the forest run from where I live on Eaglesnest Lake #3 to Bear Head Lake ten miles down the road. That won't be til mid summer. Got the Worksman Indian out yesterday for a stare. The Villiars may fit without frame modification if set at the right angle. I'll find out pretty soon. That Villiars is a sweet motor... can't wait to hear it go putt putt. I'll start a thread on it pretty soon called "1909 Indian tri-car convertible". Sounds ambitious. Right now I'm doing some work on the 50 Panther and 53 Schwinn cantilever 4 strokes to get them all spiffed up for summer riding. I'm sure never bored. I brought the copper sheet you gave me thinking it may become an in frame tank for the Indian. Thanks again for that. I'll save it for something special.
Take care my friend, and set up a ride with the Tinsmith. Sooner is better than later since later may never come.
SB