“When We Were Little” Wednesday

When I was little, and as I got older, cycling was always a large part of my family’s time together. When my sister and I were very little – and my older sister was less little - and we lived in Virginia, we were mere blocks from the beach; my parents would get us on the back of their bikes, my older sister would hop on her own banana seat, and off we’d go to the ocean. When we were teeny tiny, we would be in those seats that actually mount on the back of the parents’ bikes; as we got older, though, we upgraded to the “bugger.”

I have no idea why we called it that. (I’m fairly certain that wasn’t the real name for this contraption.) We loved it, though; the two of us would sit back there and just watch the world whiz by. We could see Mom (because Dad usually pulled us) and our older sister on their grownup bikes, enjoying the recreation of cycling without having to exert any of the energy. It was a great way to ride – we even had room for toys and books and things in there. Pret-ty cool.

When I started kindergarten, I lived close enough to my school that Mom would load us into the bugger and take me to school that way. I’m pretty sure that was just about the cutest thing ever: two little girls riding along behind their mama’s bicycle, one with her pink crayon backpack and the other dreaming of the day when she, too, could stay at school like the big kids. (I like to think she was a little lonely riding back there after they dropped me off, riding in the bugger all by herself. I’d like to think she missed me……but she probably loved having the space to herself.) Once or twice, on the way home from school, Mom took us to a convenience store for orange Push-Ups, which we would eat in the bugger. That was just about as good as it gets.

Mom and Dad still have the bugger, though they say it needs some work done before it hits the road again. We might want to get on those repairs, because I have a feeling it has some road time in its future.

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