Tuesday, March 04, 2008

I named him Woodstock.....

"He's just a bike" they said. Rolling their eyes. "But a good bike, Ma, a really good bike" she added, reassuring me that it was o.k. to bring him in the house. Ok to clear a room for his comfort and park him like art next to the piano. And then they laughed.





But, he's my responsibility, I thought to myself. I brought him home from the store, picked him out of crowd, with his peeling stickers lazily slapped on at the factory, his decals with air pockets, and his crooked seat. I brought him home and now I have to nurture him. Show him the world. I have to teach him to ride with the wind, to slide into the driveway, racing for homebase like the crowd is roaring. I have to take him where he feels as free as first love or a puppy that just climbed through the gate, knee high in trouble and romping on...and on....and on....


And so, on Sunday, after miles and morning miles of practice, we took off...."Take me to the River and I'll follow you anywhere" I whispered to his backside, clomping him out the kitchen door, and saddling up with lemoned water and a smile....and we rode on and on and on.....






Like Forest Gump running, we just kept going......








And I swear he pedaled half the way. I rode the wooden bridge hands free, blonde hair flying, tickety tickety tack, floorboards swaying...... the water chasing us under the planks, lapping at our shadow....


At Make-out park, we camped long enough to remember, to graze, to watch the faces of strangers watching us grow....
to stare into the rheumy face of the river and throw kisses at everything hidden under its leather colored skin.....
to smile at the Sun, freckle faced, and playing hide and go seek with the trees,
to climb over the "Do not cross the fence" sign
and snuggle into Peace Tree,
two fingers rising.....
long enough
to know
it was OK to turn around and go back home.

Ok to fly like the dickens down that driveway.....
crunching gravel all the way.....





15 comments:

Maithri said...

And I'm sure he named you 'Free'.

Reading your fragrant words is like watching the wild sea making love to the sun.

Sometimes if i look hard enough into the heavens, i could swear i can see the outline of your wings.

Keep flying my friend, keep lifting us up with your beautiful words..

Love to you,

M

singleton said...

Maithri....
And JSYK, I thought of you on this
13 mile trek, ask Skinny.....I just told her the story....
words you wrote
a long time ago,
a lifetime ago in friendship years,
coming to life,
dangling from the trees
like windchimes,
sudden gifts....

finally unwrapped....

Peace~love my friend,
the voice,
the whipporwhill.....
I wish you a mountain top and clear skies to carry the
sound....

skinnylittleblonde said...

PALS...climbing that tree, riding that bike...seeing, leaving d=footprints only the blessed can see.
ILYSP

singleton said...

SisterLove.....
Imagine the trinkets dangling from those limbs....
Imagine PAL....
everywhere
accidently
and meant to be....
And we'll ride in the wind....
ILYSVVM

skinnylittleblonde said...

In my canvassing around today, I found a 'mile-o-meter' for the bike & I thought nah, I'll just count the hills, the twists, turns & dippity-dos...PLS

sandyland said...

beautiful pictures - what special memories - weather perfecto

singleton said...

skinny....Tripometer! I know these grooves by heart now, know the rooftops counting, the blacktop roller coaster track.....and then, this, the long and endless road to the water.....And yup, we've counted the miles, because the faster I pedal and the further we go, the closer we are to escaping the background noise, time, collectors nipping at my heels....the farther we ride, the closer we are to being free......
ILYSVVM......PALS

Sandy....Oh, it was sooooooooo perfect.........I wish you could see the whole picture of Peace Tree, the roots climb down a steep embankment, probably 20 feet or more, slurping right into the water......Beautiful!

Peace~love
Clink! To the sunshine girls!

Unknown said...

Supervivid, as always.

Have you heard of Helen Martins, who lived in Nieu-Bethesda in South Africa, and her remarkable Owl House? I think you might like to take a look...

justacoolcat said...

My favorite love stories usually involve bikes.

Lola Starr said...

Oooohhhh, that gave me chills....and severe spring fever. And I really want to go ride a bike now....:) Hope you've been well! Peace

P.S. I get to meet Skinny in less about a week! Yay!

singleton said...

Electric....
I got lost in those pages, late for work, sipping cold coffee....Enchanted with Ms. Helen and her own private world.....like meeting an old lost friend. Thank you......

suchacoolcat....You know a love story when you hear one! And I thought I was being subtle!:)

Karma.....Oh! girl! I wanna go! I wanna hear that music, sip that beer, spin and twirl and sway! Hugs to you both, cheers to you both, Love to you both!

Peace~love my friends
and may we all ride on......

Shimmerrings said...

Oh, you've done it again... this one was really alive... what best friends you and Woodstock have become, already... I can feel adventure ahead, and turns taken so easily, it's like greased lightening... and yes, artwork next to the piano :)

Peace...

singleton said...

Shimmerings....
He's like an old brown dog that's still a puppy,
a favorite pair of levis that will live to be pocketless and kneeless but still has the tags on,
my newest old friend, Woodstock.....

Peace~love
In to the sunlight....

~Babs said...

The excitement,,,the freedom,,,
that Woodstock was, and is.
I feel it,,,,especially the wind in the hair, from my horse days. Nothing like it in this world!

And I adore this Peace tree,,,how very right that you'd find it!
I'd love to be able to climb it!

singleton said...

Babs....Yup, he feels like Freedom....Now, if I could only get 'em to jump fences! and wade in the water! :)
The tree is the most incredible being....like two fingers rising from the bottom of the earth to the top of the sky....her roots crawl down the embankment in an exact mirror of her limbs.....reaching, reaching, reaching....I really do have to post the distance picture.... And next time I visit her, just so everyone else knows....I think I'll leave a little charm on her twig fingers.....
"Peace tree"......