Today is another glorious day, a just right day. The sun is bright and framed in a deep blue sky. It will be in the mid 60’s today and the 50’s tonight, perfect for daytime roaming and nighttime sleeping. This is such a lovely time of year.

When I was a kid, I thought my world was huge. It was filled with adventures and discoveries. This time of year the swamp was alive with tadpoles darting through the water and dragonflies skimming across the top of the water. The swamp was large in the middle with sort of little canals going back from it into the brush. In the winter we could walk the canals, but in the summer the brush was too thick. I remember the small canals froze first, and I could see all the plants under the ice. The swamp got green with algae in the summer.

On Green Street, there was a field with a red barn. Two horses grazed the field. We used to try to feed them grass. We had notions of riding them but never dared to climb the fence. The fact I had never ridden a horse under saddle let alone bareback didn’t stop me from hoping.

My trusty steed, my bicycle, took me everywhere. It was the sort with no gears and back of the pedals brakes. It had a wire basket on the front. It had thick tires. It was quick down hills. I flew. I learned to ride it with no hands. I used to brake in the sand on purpose so my bike would slide. I used to ride by the golf courses and look for errant golf balls. Sometimes I’d ride along Spot Pond from the zoo to the pool then try to make it up the hill near the pool. I always ended up walking my bike partway. The downhill side was close to the square. I used to stop on the benches under the trees by the town hall and eat lunch.

I’d get home in the late afternoon. My mother usually asked where I’d been. I always answered, “Around.”

This entry was posted on June 1, 2024 at 12:24 pm and is filed under Musings. You can subscribe via RSS 2.0 feed to this post's comments. Both comments and pings are currently closed.