Pictures
Deryle Mehrten
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When Wanda and I did the SEAT newsletter, we took hundreds of pictures and wrote hundreds of stories that went with them. It was a labor of love for many years. It didn't take long to realize that SEAT members liked to see their pictures and their names in "The View from the SEAT".
We're still taking pictures, though not so many anymore, and we still love to share them. Pictures are truly worth a thousand words and can bring back a thousand memories.
Pictures - Over the last 15 years or so Wanda and I have taken thousands of pictures of riders and their bikes coming to the monthly SEAT lunches. Add to that all the pictures we’ve taken at rallies and other motorcycle gatherings, and it totals up to a lot, and I mean A LOT of pictures.
Initially it was 35 mm with trips to the developer to get them printed out. Now it’s digital with no developing and easy editing. Every so often I go rummaging through the bottom drawer of our flip-down desk where we store gobs of printed 35 mm pictures; or I’ll go scrolling through what seems like endless hard drive directories, sub-directories and sub-sub-directories with thousands of digital pictures. Every time I go through these portals of the past I end up laughing my ass off and/or choking back tears of sadness and joy. So many good folks captured on paper and electronic pallets.
There’s the picture of Josef Tornick licking the last of his chocolate desert off his plate in Tombstone. Josef and his Joe Beemer stories were great. The biggest grin I ever took a picture of was Menachem Lorber with his brand new BMW GS parked in front of the Stage Stop Inn in Patagonia. If he had grinned any harder I’m sure he would have chipped a tooth.
Back when, we would take our SEAT Banner to the rallies that gave awards for most club members attending. We hung the banner off of trees in Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, California… The picture of George Dezso holding up one end of the Banner at the Roadrunner Rally in Heber is a classic. Another grin that will shine forever thanks to digital photography.
Then there’s the picture of a fellow SEAT member or two who are no longer with us. The picture of Rob Lentini receiving his MOA Safety Award is a tough one to look at. It brings back such good memories and such sad memories. Phil Shelley, rest his bones, was not only a fellow Beemer rider, he was a fellow Guzzi rider. I have pictures of us and our bikes at Beemer and Guzzi gatherings. Sad…
Wanda and I do everything we can to preserve all the pictures we have of SEAT members and their rides. CDs and DVDs are stacked up neatly and properly labeled so we can come back any time we want and visit with our friends. Until there’s a time machine like in HG Wells’ novel, our pictures will have to do…and they do quite nicely. Now, if I only had a camera that could look into the future…NOT!
Deryle and Wanda, we always bring the camera.