SARGE
02-11-2007, 01:01 AM
Since my 1970 VW got wrecked this past October, I've been forced to use an old bicycle I had to restore to new, and the local bus for anything going too far for the bike - like 17 miles to the doctor weekly. I actually look forward to the daily trek of 6 miles in the morning for a bowl of oatmeal at the greasy spoon, then a return home with a stop at my post office box for the mail. Being retired at such a young and healthy age (54) and 32 years faithful service, I am now almost 58 and determined to regain the lost youth I threw away while working. I push myself daily in exercise upon the bike and am addicted to so-called health foods. At least I have a mission in my twilight years - to once again be as strong as ever both physically and mentally as I was when so young. As they say, the mind wants but the body puts up a fuss. I'll deal with it.
Many times while cycling I have a strong sense of returning to yester-year. Peddling up the old streets brings back strong memories. I often stop along familiar streets, recalling how I once ran the same barefoot as a child, playing with kids who, if lucky, are now the same age as I. I stop in front of the old home often, the place I grew up in, and let my memories return to a time much more secure than now, when our parents spent evenings on the front lawn visiting with others and sipping iced tea while we kids were playing hide-in-seek. Of course all the old folks are gone now but it's both refreshing and depressing (two conflicting emotions) to return to that old 'hood. The old hamburger joint is still at the corner; original owner has passed but remains in the family. On payday Dad sent me there on my bike for 5 hamburgers for $1.00. Those prices have changed but the burgers are still the best around and loyal customers from way back still visit. There is a saying that some of us will come full-circle in our lifetime if fortunate, to be able to trace our footsteps back to a younger time and be older and recall them physically. I don't know why my VW was destroyed in a wreck but am thankful that I was forced to rely on a simpler transportation like an old bicycle and rediscover those things that built me while much younger.
Many times while cycling I have a strong sense of returning to yester-year. Peddling up the old streets brings back strong memories. I often stop along familiar streets, recalling how I once ran the same barefoot as a child, playing with kids who, if lucky, are now the same age as I. I stop in front of the old home often, the place I grew up in, and let my memories return to a time much more secure than now, when our parents spent evenings on the front lawn visiting with others and sipping iced tea while we kids were playing hide-in-seek. Of course all the old folks are gone now but it's both refreshing and depressing (two conflicting emotions) to return to that old 'hood. The old hamburger joint is still at the corner; original owner has passed but remains in the family. On payday Dad sent me there on my bike for 5 hamburgers for $1.00. Those prices have changed but the burgers are still the best around and loyal customers from way back still visit. There is a saying that some of us will come full-circle in our lifetime if fortunate, to be able to trace our footsteps back to a younger time and be older and recall them physically. I don't know why my VW was destroyed in a wreck but am thankful that I was forced to rely on a simpler transportation like an old bicycle and rediscover those things that built me while much younger.