This summer I made a deal with my son about ME getting a bike. He has his bike and really enjoys riding it. We live on the 3rd floor and I don't always want to carry his bike up and down the stars. But he is older now and so it was time for me to get a bike so he (us) to go longer distances. Walking and having him circling me, complaining that he wanted to go fast, was just about drove me over the edge.

Hence the deal! He had to carry his own bike up and down the three flights of stairs and I will carry mine. The first two times, there was a lot of tears and crying. From him, not me. I started to give in and carry BOTH bikes when I thought of the book Holes by Louis Sachar. 

In Holes by Louis Sachar, Elya was told by Madame Zeroni to carry a piglet up and down the mountain so that it could drink from the source. As the piglet grew up strong from the fresh air and water, so did Elya. He became stronger from carrying his pig up and down the mountain. So it was decided by that, my son would carry his bike. 
By the 3rd time, he was bragging how fast he was up and down the stairs. Thanks, Louis!

Today was an unusual bike ride. Behind our house is a little trail with a ditch that divides us from a middle school. The ditch is partly filled with water, wild flowers, and scurrying little fish. Once in a while, you might see a turtle or two. Today, we saw a beaver! I couldn't believe my eyes! I leaped off my bike and was bounding into the grass, not even worrying about dog poop. My son was right behind me but didn't see the rodent. The beaver swam under the bridge and disappeared. We hurried across the bridge to the other side and there he was. Gliding in the water with long ripples flowing away from him. Not fast and not a care to us. We tried to follow with our land legs along the bank. He never sped up because he need we couldn't catch him. He got some thick bushes, did a graceful dive, and was gone. 

Told my son, " Something worth writing about..."

The picture is from flickr commons. I didn't have my camera.

Today, in the late afternoon Texas heat,(pant, pant)  we went to the pool. I started thinking about the pool days, the summer days of youth. I was trying to remember one time at the pool. All of my pool times seemed to run altogether. I wanted to try to focus on one particular day. I can definitely think about my teenage pool experiences but that is a whole other blog. No, more of when I was a child, swimming in a pool. With sun beating down, tightening the skin on your face. With the five minutes, it takes to get down the first steps because it is freezing. The final plunge you take that beats at your chest and every pore on your body prickles. Your frizzy inky hair becoming tame and beautiful as a mermaid’s.

What was interesting is that the vision of my sister, Trish, kept coming up. She was the one who always took me the pool or to the beach. My memories of Trish are always so conforming. In fact I didn’t call her Trish until I was a teenager. She was always Sissy or Trishie. I liked to spell it Trish E.

I remember her getting me Dr. Pepper’s after school and picking me up in her 1980 blue Chevy. Her shifter knob was broken and always had a wash clothe covering it.  She had this large button in car that said “Kiss Me, I’m Irish” with a lipstick print of lips and an emerald shamrock. But the “I” in Irish was curvy so it looked like a “T”, hence “Kiss Me, I’m Trish.” Which is very shocking because I felt she was a shy girl with a huge heart.  Her nose was always in a romance novel and had tons of books. My other sister, Corinne, was the complete opposite! Again, a whole other blog.

What are memories you have of your pool days, summer days as a child?

Spencer and I are back in Texas with a happy little kitten eager for attention (Shelly). To hear those little cries in the dark and turning on the light to see my kitten's little face was priceless. Yes, it was 2:30 in the morning but she was so excited. We played until 4! I can say that I am pretty tired. Spencer has been playing with his shell he got from CA. 

I left my phone in my rental car! They found it and I have to pay for shipping back to me! When I got the rental last Sat. the guy tried to upgrade me to a bigger car for $5.00 more a day and I was like, "No, just give me the smaller car."He was said, "Okay, How about $2 per day and a 10% discount?"I was like, "Sold!!! "He said that he was wearing a suit and didn't want it to get wet from washing the smaller car. Nice!So when I returned the car, he didn't charge the extra $2 per day and gave me a 10%!So I guess the Fed Ex charge for shipping all works out in the end!

I was getting these strange impulses to want to call people I normally call but had to stop myself  because I didn't have my phone. Had I just experienced some type of phone withdraw? I thought well what did I do before the cellphone? It was unsettling feeling that I was becoming dependent on the phone. I shall survive until it reaches here. Will I cry like the kitten when it arrives home? Come on, Annie!