A Magical Time of Year

Even though The Dude and our mum (and seven other relatives) have birthdays in March, I have always felt that it is a strong candidate for the most miserable month of the year.  There are no holidays that result in a day off in March and by this point in the year, just about everyone in New England is ready for the never-ending winter to wrap the heck up.  Although spring officially started last Thursday, the weather this week has been icy cold.  So I was pleasantly surprised to walk out of my house this morning into a very spring-like world.  The lovely weather immediately reminded me of the type of day each spring when our parents would bring The Dude's and my bicycles out from our basement.  I experienced a little jolt of joy as I remembered the excitement of hopping on my bike in the driveway at 8 Victor for the first time each year.  Bike rides were one of our favorite activities when we were growing up.  When we were little, we were only allowed to circle the block without adult supervision, so we would ride around and around (and around.)  Our mum took us for longer rides.  The evenings when the three of us would hop on our bikes to navigate around our little town were magical.  I treasure these childhood memories and I feel like I need to add some Wonder Years-caliber nostalgic narration about a "simpler time" to the photos below.  We sure were lucky.

Our first trikes

Our first bikes

Evidence that I did eventually learn to ride sans training wheels