The wheels go round and round

How long has it been since you have skinned your knee? Or maybe got a bump on your head? Middle Age Plus people sometimes have these problems because of unsteadiness or weakness, but hopefully not too often.

We have a 12-year-old living with us who has been mastering the art of riding a bicycle. At first whenever she got over-balanced and started to fall she depended on her helpers to keep her straight. That didn't always happen and she took a nosedive in the gravel road.

However she was a real trooper and got back 'in the saddle' and nearly completed her training. The next morning she did get the momentum, balance, steering and pedaling all in sync and has been burning up the road ever since on her wheels. (Could this possibly be a preview of actions in four years when she is 16?)

All this activity brought back fond memories to me of my own experiences in learning to use the different wheels in my life.

One of my early pictures is of me sitting in my sister's doll carriage.

This was followed in a few years with another picture of me, dressed in crepe paper, wheeling my own doll buggy as I headed for a parade in our neighborhood park in Washington, D.C.

Those wheels gave way soon to a scooter. Scooters are all the rage now, but for years I had not seen any children using the two-wheeled scooters that I enjoyed so much. In the summer on the farm I enjoyed putting both feet on the scooter and riding down the front lawn terrace without putting either foot down on the ground.

I suppose my enjoyment was similar to the skate-boarders of today, but mine was rather mild compared to what I see as I drive on North Ash.

My next transportation was a Flexy Sled. I think that might have been the trademark. It is what we called this replica of a snow sled that had four wheels instead of two runners. We would run a clothesline rope through the hole in either end of the steering bar and stand on the "Flexy" as we balanced down the terrace at The Wayside or down the gentle hill in our side yard in Washington.

Since I have vivid memories of playing with this sled at both locations I now wonder how it got back and forth each year. We certainly didn't bring it in or on the car.

Perhaps we shipped it along with our bicycles and the large wooden box that held our clothes, sheets and even cooking utensils. (It was several years before Mama decided that it was cheaper to buy two sets of kitchen pots and pans than to ship the one set back and forth.)

Next came the bicycle. My first one had balloon tires. I had learned on my sister's bike that had the large wheels and little narrow tires. I felt I had the Cadillac of bikes. I was always ready to ride to the nearby DGS store up the hill on Western Avenue to get any last minute groceries that Mama needed after her big weekly shopping trip on Saturday. I would balance the bags of groceries in my arms and coast down the hill, guiding the bike with my body motion while not touching the handlebars. I could get almost all the way home in that manner but did have to stop just as we reached the driveway's hill. We were on our bikes every afternoon after school, venturing far out in the country.

I haven't mentioned my roller skates, but they were my mainstay through all these other wheels. It wouldn't be wise for me to get out my skates now, but it would sure be fun. I am sure I would get my own skinned knee and a few other things!