community – Jeff Maddox

July 16, 2014November 21, 2014

The Spirit of Adventure – OUTLAND MOTO

If you’re going to do it, it might as well be an adventure.

It’s not just the travels on our motorcycles that makes our life an adventure. We can spend many hours in the saddle finding the picture perfect view that is camera worthy, or challenge ourselves to go places that only a few have gone. Sure, it’s likely we’re not the first one to pass down this road or trail, but it can always be my first time. I have found we motorcyclists can be up for any challenge put in front of us, and even if it’s uphill both ways I think we’ll be okay. As long as there is some good scenery.

But it’s not always the adventure of riding that fuels our passion. It can be all that surrounds our passion which quickly becomes the challenge. We pour our heart and thoughts and emotions into what we love so much that it too can be quite the adventure. My good friend Jim Vota knows this all too well. While he and his crew at Outland Moto are passionate about the adventure side of motorcycling, they are also passionate about showing it to you. To channel the Spirit of Adventure and the dedication of something you love into a lifelong dream can only be a good thing. And it shows.

Look for amazing things to come from Outland Moto. Pictures, video, product reviews and so much more can be found at Outland Moto following the lifestyle of all ADV riders. I know for Jim, this is just as exciting as any adventure he’s taken on a motorcycle. But I also know that he would rather be out on some rock strewn path taking him up towards a summit somewhere. And if you want to see the results of his life’s adventure, check out Outland Moto. Of course, he wants to see what kind of adventures you’re on, so share some of your favorite photos with them. After all, it’s about the community and the stories behind every moment we experience that makes it all come together.

Thanks Jim, for all you do. And I look forward to seeing where your adventure takes you!

If you can’t go on your own adventures, follow Outland Moto on theirs!

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August 23, 2013August 23, 2013

Our Town

Our town can be anywhere, and the boundaries of a zip code are no match when it comes to who we are as a community or where we end up as an individual. People come and go and even as the distance becomes greater to those who chose to explore the horizons that surround our town, they are still in some small way connected by friends, family or memories. Our town is wherever we make it and as life and surroundings change we often stay the same. We can throw ourselves into the world but if there is just a bit of small town in you, it is carried wherever you go. It’s an impact we have on those who haven’t been to our town and we wear it well. We may disguise it on the surface, but at some point our town will come up in conversation and only then will they understand who we are.

We can always return, but mostly we never left. If our town was just a little closer to where we ended up, it wouldn’t be the same. There is a threshold that is called distance, and once it’s crossed our memories become clearer and reflections become necessary. Our town is who we are no matter where we are and it shows in the foundation built by the people of every community. Is it that our town is getting older, or is it me? It was here long before me, and it will be here long after I’m gone. So leaving those imaginary boundaries of our town should be easy. For some it is, and for others, well, it is not. Someday.

There are those that only lived in our town a short while, and we hope that their experience will go with them in a positive way. For it is those few that will look back with a greater opinion of what our town is really like. Family, friends and neighbors all have that deep connection, and we see our town from a different light, but those whose roots are short should experience it in only a positive way. After all, those who left our town have also experienced a new and different community and all it has to offer. We only want the best for those who left and should welcome all that come. That’s just part of the foundation of our town.

August 1, 2013April 1, 2016

City Limits

Walk down any main street in any small town and you can feel it. The slower you walk, the stronger the feeling through the soles of your shoes. A vibration of days gone by and a sense of those that walked the same sidewalk many, many years ago. Taking the time to look through store-front windows and see the product of a day-to-day business that serves the community even though it doesn’t make a profit. Built from a sense of pride and to fill a need, only to be cannibalized by a larger community off in the distance. The inevitable happens and the bright lights inside become a dim memory. Bigger and faster takes the place of carrying your sacks to the car for you. A screen door is not as fancy as those automatic kind and I guess since no one in those big cities holds the door open for you, the doors do it themselves.

Character is established in both architecture and ancestry and we live the life of a small community and we carry on the life of how we were raised.

Small is as small does, and the personal touch is knowing your name and asking “how you are doing” and meaning it. We hear it so often without sincerity that when it is asked by someone you know, you know they mean it. Main streets have sincerity. It is built into every small town I’ve been through, and you can’t tear it down and modernize it. It’s engrained in the wooden floors and door hinges and when the door swings open, it makes the sound of “welcome home.” You can’t make it bigger or shinier without making it cold and dull. Small towns have that warm feeling of porch lights and a wave to your neighbor, and a stoplight doesn’t give off the same glow as a small town street light. Convenience is a state of mind and its definition isn’t in the dictionary. Small towns are a way of life and at any time you are just a block or two away from being out-of-town where culverts and silos take the place of curbs and steps.

Like an old barn that on the outside appears to be weathered and worn, the small communities wear it like the patina people so desire on antiques and collectibles. They have a feeling of used – not used up, cared for and precious and a link to times past. You know, when life was good and times were simple. Life is still good and it’s only as simple as you make it. Character is established in both architecture and ancestry and we live the life of a small community and we carry on the life of how we were raised. That, my friends, can be found between the city limits signs of White City.