Cool-- skylarks they shall be. (They nest on the ground?)

This last one (tho another favorite of mine) is so long and I am so tired of typing, I'm going to just take it a page at a time.... it will be several installments before the truth of the story is manifest, but I hope you will enjoy the ride in stages!

~S~

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SATURDAY RIDE 1

1. It was a dull, uninspiring Saturday morning just like dozens of other dull, uninspiring Saturday mornings at the motor pool of Langdon Royal Artillery military base on the east coast of England. Five drivers were lounging around a workbench. I was finishing a minor tune-up of an Army BSA motorcycle. Bob, the mechanic in the next bay, was unenthusiastically attempting to reassemble a balky carburetor. We were all just whiling away the long hours until noon, when our duty would end.

2. This weekend, however, would be different. Our regiment had been selected as an Artillery Training Facility and this was the Saturday the first batch of Territorial Army (National Guard) trainees were to arrive. Therefore all weekend passes had been cancelled. "Finished!" I announced to no one in particular as I stood up, wiping my greasy hands on an even dirtier piece of rag. Now came the part that I enjoyed, the part that made the work worthwhile. Reaching for my helmet, I prepared to road test the object of my recent labors. The engine started without hesitation; slipping out the clutch, I moved across the apron of the garage building.

3. In a few minutes I was racing along a narrow country lane, laughing aloud from the sheer exhilaration that hanging onto a motorcycle at great speed has always brought me.

4. It was then that I made my first mistake of the day. I started to think. I thought of my friends and fellow soldiers back at the base garage, and how utterly miserable they were at the prospect of no weekend freedom. Inspiration came to me in a flash. I would, alone and unaided, brighten their collective days. No sooner the thought than the deed, and turning my machine I was soon back at my starting place.