March 5th, 2020
Bicycles, etc.
I was sitting despondently at the breakfast table,
wondering what I could concoct that would return me to my usual
everyday energetic and cheerful self,
despite my stiff neck!!!
In order to distract myself from said stiff neck, and the blues that accompany it,
my thoughts turned to early days, when I was full of pep and bounce!!!!
As I contemplated those days a boy rode by on a bike, on his way to school,
and I remembered, nostalgically, the bicycle that was part of my early teens,
and my transportation to school, a mile or so away,
there being no school buses in those days....the Thirties, Depression Years.
On the corner of Alberta Avenue and 92nd street there lived an older couple
dear to our family, - "Grandad" and "Granny" Green.
Grandad had a bicycle shop, and Granny had a heart of gold!
It was not just shiny new bikes that Grandad sold, -
he was a whiz at putting together old parts and pieces, and with a magic wand.
a few screws and a fresh coat of paint
he produced bikes that all could afford in those
economically tight years.
Mine cost $5.00, and was named "Bonaparte"
in honour of the way he came into being!
I think that Granny's Golden Heart probably influenced the price!
I think that Granny's Golden Heart probably influenced the price!
Besides school Bonaparte took me on many a cycle ride,
one in particular with my dear friend and kindred spirit, N.K.
- on this adventure out Oliver way from Edmonton.
We took our knitting -
I believe I was making a sweater for my father,
which he wore as a vest as I never did finish the sleeves.
Bonaparte was passed on to my sister (five years younger)
who also used it for school. I wish I had a picture..
he was such a sturdy steed!!!
Where his "Bones" eventually laid I do not know.
I got involved with an Air Force officer, - married him and left home
for adventures in another province of Canada.
Our transportation there was a 1933 yellow wire-wheeled Chev Coupe!
I
We were so young!
