Picture of the day - December 26, 2007

A bicycle all covered with snow

Photo courtesy of Emiliana Ganem. Today's picture brings back memories of my childhood and the many bike rides that I took up and down the country roads of rural Widener Valley, Virginia. Those were the  carefree days of my youth, and the only worries I had revolved around flat tires and defective "sprocket chains". I loved ridin' around the valley with my cousins Mark And Lanie. It didn't matter whether we headed "down to the river" for a swim or "up to the ore mines" to coast down those steep, red banks like pee-wee versions of our hero Evel Knievel, we always had a wonderful time. And the Lord must surely have been with us day-in and day-out because we managed to do all sorts of dangerous things on our bikes without sustaining any life-threatening injuries. But as they say, "all good things must come to an end", and so it was every winter when the temperatures dropped below freezing and snow covered the ground for weeks at a time. I usually stored my bike inside our barn during winter weather, but occasionally I would make the mistake of leaving it out in the weather and wake up the next morning to find a scene quite similar to this one. It was always a hard blow seeing my precious bike that Lanie had helped me assemble from a pile of spare parts all covered with snow and ice, but I never really learned my lesson. I would forget and leave it outside again and again, and each time I would have to dig it out of a snow bank and push it up the hill through the deep snow to the barn. But come spring I would have that rickety old bike in tip-top shape, ready and waiting to head out on a brand new set of boyhood adventures. Yep, those were good times, and I'll remember them always. And even though I've had a number of shiny new bicycles since then, not one of them has ever compared to that old 20" claptrap with the knobby tires, banana seat and high rise handlebars.   Click here to comment on today's picture.   Visit the POTD Archives for previous "Pictures Of The Day"!     Submit a photo of your own!            Why I publish the "Picture of the Day"