Random thoughts

My first bike was blue.  It was long and low, nothing like my second bike, which was high and short from wheel to wheel and had U shaped handle bars.  The blue bike had training wheels and it’s not so much the bike that I’ve been remembering.  Not sure what put training wheels in my mind.  Maybe someone’s blog or something on TV. 

I can remember when I was ready to take the training wheels off.  As a compromise, my Dad raised them so they weren’t both in contact with the ground at the same time.  To ride it that way, I had to learn balance.  But, there was always the safety of those extra wheels on either side to keep me from toppling over.  And, then, my Dad raised them higher and I had to learn more balance, but was still safe.  And, then one day, I remember that he took them off and held the back of the bike as I rode up and down the driveway.  And, then I was off on my own. 

Not sure how long it was before I got the purple bike.  I remember waking on Christmas morning and finding it standing next to the tree.  I also can’t remember if that was the year that my sister got her pink bike that was almost the same, but had an extra bar that ran from seat to front wheel.  We called it a sissy bar because if a boy fell astride it, he would have been injured.  Weird, tho, because if a girl fell astride it, she would have been injured, too, but in a different way.  That was one thing that separated the sexes that no one needed.  What boy was going to ride a pink bike?  The sissy bar was redundant.  M’s pink bike also had pink and silver streamers that hung from the hand grips and a white basket with flowers that hung on the handlebars.  I envied the basket, but not the flowers.  They should have made a more masculine basket because that would have been so convenient for transporting the stuff that boys needed, like toy soldiers and plastic guns in holsters.

I rode the purple bike for a very long time and can remember all us kids, riding in circles out in front of the houses, talking to one another.  We could have sat on the ground in a circle and talked, but how much more fun was it to ride in circles and talk.

I wonder what we talked about.

I did pretty good last night on our shopping expedition.  Hot pink t-shirt from Hobby Lobby.  Black basketball shorts from the men’s department at Academy, because “those girl shorts are all booty shorts”.  Hey, she said it, not me.  And, two sports foundation garments; one hot pink and one black.  Hey, everything has to coordinate now.  When did that happen?  I can remember sending her back for stripes and plaids in green and yellow.

I was a man on a mission, get in, get out, try it on, keep it moving, marching from store to store; quickstep.  Keeping them moving.  Hup-two, hup-two.  And, then we had a nice bar-b-que dinner.  Rob’s was free because I had filled my frequent diner punch card.

I love punch cards. 

I machine embroidered the quilt name on the first two labels.  Still a lot more to do and frustrating for someone that almost never uses that software.  And, I got another border sewn on the Dresden Plate quilt, fulfilling my goal for yesterday’s hand sewing with Bonnie.

Be well.  Have a great Thursday.  The heat is supposed to break on Saturday.  Hopefully that will mean the end of 100* days in this part of Texas.

Lane