“15th Day of Christmas 2025”

Yamaha YZ80

I think the year was 1978. My cousin was getting a brand new Yamaha YZ80. He was at my house when he told me the news. My aunt came to pick us up to go to my cousin’s house.

Upon arrival my cousin’s new motorcycle was already at the home having been picked up by his dad. I had seen pictures of a Yamaha YZ80 courtesy of the dozens of motorcycle magazines I had collected. DirtBike Magazine and Motocross Action Magazine were two of my closest companions, providing countless hours of leisurely dreaming of maybe one day owning a dirtbike of my own.

Upon laying my eyes on this mythical thing of many of my adolescent friends’ dreams I found myself in a trance, every detail of the motorcycle instantly burned into the deepest sections of my brain. The knobby tires, the 79cc engine, the yellow color, the suspension travel.  Thing of  beauty for many a young man of my age at that time.

I can still recall the distinct smell of the premixed fuel my uncle poured into the gas tank. They had no idea that I was aware of it at the time, but I quietly relished my uncle’s and cousin’s attention as they found humor in my barely contained excitement. I would have kissed the gas tank if I could have somehow kept my cousin from sharing that news with all of my friends. In every sense of the word it was love at first sight.

Up to that point the bike hadn’t even been started yet. When my cousin kick-started that 79cc engine to life it was all I could take. THAT TWO-STROKE SOUND! For a brief second I thought about pushing my cousin off of his dirtbike and taking the initial ride myself. My uncle would have found this funny at first, but then my ass would have paid the price in the end…….I was allowed to ride later. Changed my life forever.

Never did get my own YZ80. However, some years later I got my very own Yamaha YZ125. Been fortunate to own a few more motorcycles along the way.

But no other vehicle has had the same effect on me as that YZ80 did back in 1978. Just the thought  of it takes me back to my youth. So, for the 15th Day of Christmas find a reason to reminisce about your youth. And if it happens be a Yamaha YZ80 I completely understand.

“Balance”

Yes. Balance. As a word balance is underrated. And probably a little bit under used. It’s not a sexy word. In fact it sounds pretty boring. It has never been  prevalent in pop culture. However, balance is a versatile word having the ability to be used as a noun, verb or adjective.

Don’t be fooled though. Balance is an essential ingredient to better quality of life. I had to learn this lesson the hard way, meaning I had to experience certain periods of imbalance to learn with parts of my life before I understood it’s importance.

Start with my diet. From my mid-teens to my early twenties my diet was terrible. Seriously. M&Ms, ice cream sandwiches and ginger ale sodas for breakfast some days. Carry out lunch with yellow Hostess cupcakes almost everyday. Snickers or honeybuns for afternoon snacks. And that was during the work week. Don’t even get me started on the weekend diet. At 23 years of age my doctor told me that if I kept eating like that I wouldn’t have to worry about body mass index at 24 because it wouldn’t matter………and then he fortunately sent me to a nutritionist. I was instructed to drink a glass of water before every meal and alternate fruits and sweets. Lost 17 pounds in three months. Balance. Glad those days are over.

And then there was the matter of sleep. I had to be up by 6:30am for work and routinely went to bed between 11pm and 1am. Around the same age (23) a fitness instructor encouraged me to try to go to bed at the same time (10pm) each night. I didn’t do that but I started going to bed by 10pm on Sundays. No TV, no music, no phones. No, um, social activities either……..at least not until the morning. Nothing. Changed my energy and focus for the entire week. Balance.

Look, I was not raised in the church. I am no theologian or Biblical Scholar. However, I do believe in the power of spirituality. I go to church occasionally and fellowship virtually almost weekly. I read scripture daily usually starting my morning with the Word of the day.  This fuels my positive energy all day. Not preaching to you just sharing with you. And honestly with all of the hedonistic heathenly things I’ve done in my life I could probably use a few more daily scriptures. Balance.

That’s it. Now that I’ve spent some time staring at these dull words I need a picture to provide some variety and a point of emphasis. This heavenly photo of Ms. Lupita Nyong’o just might do it. Praise the Lord.

You see, balance.