Baby Blue

Once upon a time, a long long time ago, in the land of Pike there lived a little girl.  She lived on a beautiful tree lined street.  This street was a very happy place because there were many children that lived there.

This little girl loved to play at one house in particular.  This house had lots of children living in it.  Not only were there lots of children, there were lots of toys.  Not only were there lots of toys, there were lots of bicycles.  The little girl was fascinated that it seemed as soon as the youngest child learned to walk, they learned to ride a bicycle.

This little girl was nearly 8 years old and had not yet learned to ride a bike.  She was a slow learner.  She had tried many times, but sadly, was unsuccessful.  One day though, at the house with all the children, one of the youngest got a new bicycle.  It was just the right size for that child and the visiting little girl marveled at how that child could hop on that small bike and ride down the sidewalk like a bandit.  

Suddenly, the little girl had an idea.  She asked the child if she could try to ride the small bicycle.  The child happily agreed and the little girl climbed onto the bike and realized her idea was right.....both feet touched the ground when she sat on the seat.  Somewhere around the 4th or 5th try, the little girl was sailing down the sidewalk on two wheels, her knees nearly up to her ears and all the children cheered her on.

It wasn't long after that, Mother bought me my first bike.  It was a dark blue Western Flyer and I thought it was the best looking bike I had ever seen.  I do not recall how many miles or years the bicycle served me, but one day I noticed that it was looking kind of rough around the edges.  It had had its fair share of bumps, wrecks and the usual wear and tear.  I decided a new paint job would make it look new again and proceeded to search for some paint.
I can still see the look on Mother's face when she came out the back door to find me painting, with a brush,  my dark blue Western Flyer with the baby blue flat latex paint she had used to paint her kitchen cabinets.  Needless to say, she was not nearly as thrilled with my work as I was.

Many years later, in the land of the Carolina's, I decided I wanted a bicycle.  This thought turned into a reality just a couple of weeks later.  Someone had moved out and left behind a perfectly good bicycle.  It was a girls style Schwinn 7 speed and the very best part about it, besides being free, was the color.  Baby blue.

The very first time I rode it, as I was sailing down the tree lined golf cart path, the wind in my face, the wheels spinning faster and faster, just for an instant, I was that little girl on that tree lined street, in the land of Pike.