I was four. The only child. Skinny and bruise kneed. Blonde. She was born with auburn curls. Lipstick. Beautiful. I crawled into her crib and slept next to her. Once. I wasn't allowed to do it again. She was a baby. But I was mesmerized....By the time I was seven, she was as tall as me. Mama dressed us alike. Me with my Mia Farrow "I just cut my hair in the bathroom" hair doo, and her with her french braids. We swirled and twirled in matching green polka dot tent dresses, her in baby dolls and me in platforms. I listened to the Beatles, scratchy lyrics, grinding on my stereo into the wee hours, and she slept with her pink princess phone in her pink canopy bed. We were opposites. A zillion years apart. Night and day.
And then we went on the bike ride. Two spider bikes from the sheriffs sale, spray painted pink for the princess and purple for the "I'm gonna be a hippie when I grow up". We raced down the sidewalks, through the dirt alleys, over the tunnel the boys built in the park. We tulled past the Mayor's son with his three speed smiling, and huffed and puffed to keep up with Zanne and her ten speed. Nicky clacketed past us with blue and white poker cards clothespinned to his spokes.
That did us in.
We flew like the wind, standing on the pedals, home to top their "brag". We plowed through the laundrey room hunting anything we could tie to, tassle to, dangle from our handlebars. We grabbed the crayons and Mom's oil paints to decorate our seats and the fenders. I buried my head face first in the library trunk, the place that all the "gotta save" "important" "memory" stuff was kept...and dug up the Motherload....a pile of Playboy magazines...
Kimbies grinned from ear to ear. And we caught on quick to where the centerfold was. One. Two. Three. Twelve. Taped together, three pages long. Times six. The ultimate handlebar twizzler. And we flew...
Naked ladies following us. Butterflies in the wind....
Of course we got in trouble. The neighbors were apalled. Their children not allowed to play with us. And still, we rode. Faces fast to the wind. Unified....
Saturday we went out for drinks. 40 something years later...
"How cool are those old ladies?" the "probably not yet 21 year old" belted to the DJ.....
and we danced on.....
20 comments:
Ahhahahaha! Poor Mother!
We were always getting in trouble with the neighborhood parents! Hahaha I remember when I got in trouble over Dad's playboys in 3rd grade, dear Kimbies teased me and teased me and teased me. Now I know why!
Beautiful pic of both of you! ILYBSVFM!
Those old ladies are way cool!
Crackin me up!
Playboys,,,,whoda thought?
Bet those kids couldn't have topped that one, even if they'd been allowed to try!
Great post,,,still smilin.
Terrific photo,,,and now I know who Kimbies reminds me of.
It's gorgeous Ashley Judd.
Their eyes twinkle when they smile.
Hahahaha!!! Awesome!!! :) Very gorgeous photo of you two!
p.s. my blog address has changed-mychimericalmisenscene.blogspot.com
skinny....hee! hee! We were always draggin' out our dirty laundrey and flying it like flags, eh? And I remember being in high school in art class and being so frustrated over trying to sketch the body and Mama huntin' all over the house for those mags....Sheesh! We drove our little selves to the 7~11 and bought a copy over the counter ~ Mom and that glossy colored Playboy taught me more in one night than poor Ms. Powell had done in three years! ILYSVVM!
Scott...It was so funny! We walked into this new club, a rave club, and the strobe lights were just a flashin'....tons of kids standing around drinking and the music just a thumpin'...Kimbies and I hit the floor the minute we walked through it and by the time we left we had a whole crew out there and we had Led Zepplin piping through those speakers! Sooooo much fun!
Babs....She is so beautiful, inside and out, and everywhere we go, the world falls in love with her! Always have, always will. She is contagious!
Karma....TY sweetie. We've been havin' fun a lifetime, always into something! Ty for the change of address, I gotta get updated!
Peace~love friends...
Find it everywhere!
saw the whole story play like a movie in my mind.. great scenes
all smiles here after reading you, as usual. "to sisters & life adventures old and new"
love to you & yours ~s.
she....We're sisters you know...you following my babbling, rambling, blah~blah~blahing circles as if you were there!Because of course, you were, somewhere, sometime, some moment suspended in time...."to sisteres and life adventures old and new"! I'll clink to that!
Much peace and love to you and yours, love grows....
Beautiful. Memories have a way of shaping our past and present alike.
IMY...IMY...IMY!
woo hoo!
if there's more to say about this story, the love, the ingenious creativity, the wind at your face--well, i wouldn't know anything more than woo hoo.
:)
suchacoolcat....you are so right, they bring us full circle, yesterday, tomorrow....it's truly what today is all about....
Peace~love
Make everyday a memory!
Skinnylittlesister....Muah! Gawd, I miss you!
KJ.....:) Funny, but those streamers are still flying off the backs of our little stingray bikes! We live in a small town and word traveled pretty quick that Kimbies and I were out raving under the strobe lights with all the kids....My daughter just got a call last night from a friend she hadn't seen in years and years and when she asked where he was he said he was out partying with "Your Mom and your Aunt"! LOL! We were sittin' right here on the porch drinking beer....The new urban legends!
Peace~love
Make it like a memory.....
Dance him under the"special memory" tables girls sk
My friend,
JSYK,
I wake up each morning
to the butterfly lady
with eternity in her hair.
Everyone who sees her
says "How beautiful she is"
with a capital B.
Just knowing she
was drawn by your tender hand
makes her all the more
magical,
eternal...
That golden gypsy soul
who writes
passion
and Peace~Love better
than anyone
I've ever met
I love of each of you in this wild and beautiful sisterhood so dearly,
I want you to know what that "probably not 21 yr old" meant to say was...
"Thats eternity right there on that dance floor...
Peace~Love
Forever young"
All my love, Maithri
Been a long ride....
the gears scream and whine
and sputter out a tune
that compliments the road
gone, bye....
And the road....
well,
she could cares less
for petty pretty-faced compliments
she sings her own song
the travelers gone by...
days and nights blended
seamlessly
endtoendtofrontobackagain
and it won't stop until we kiss
the sun on top of Mount Sinai
and it won't ever stop until
until the road's song ends,
'til the grass won't grow
or the river won't flow
Been a long ride...
and it won't stop
until one of us saves
the other's
beknighted
jeweled
soul
amen
Been a long ride....
and a life time of miles
yet to go
tonight
You 2 are beautiful, and I know neither of you lets the other forget it.
Glad to see your words.
Tonight, I'm home again.
Peace and love, my never-forgotten friend.
Ibeati...I would have never guessed getting old was such a blast! LOL!
Maithri....
I can't tell you what it means to me to know she's there with you,
and to know that
there in her scribblin's, in her soul, the colors framing her face
are
the meanings
of Eternity,
to you and yours and the world around you....
I was that "not yet 21 year old" once...
Lifting Hurricanes in Rose O Gradies with my Nana,
watching her bet the bartenders under the table....
And perhaps she gave us all a little gift back then,
the timeless gift of
now....
Live it, Love it.....
Much peace and love my friend, always....
Eric....Ahhh,
you've still got it my friend,
tucked in a tired ole backpack,
wadded up in a blue jean pocket...
the softshoe...
Fred Astaire dancin' with the words in the wind...
Welcome home, kiddo....Kick 'em up and rest a spell....
You've been missed!
Peace~love my friends
Btw Did i tell you, you look hot in this pic!
Love, M
Maithri...LOL!
When "Ohyo (as the babies call her) took this pic, she crunched her nose and grumbled "you're so far away" and tried to scooch closer! We laughed and said "no, no,no,no,no....we're old and this is perfect!"
Peace~love~and :)
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