This March I will be participating in the mont
h-long Slice of Life Challenge. Each day I will be posting a ‘slice’ from my life. This year I am using Natalie Goldberg’s book Old Friend from Far Away: The Practice of Writing Memoir to provide my sparks for memoir writing. Each post will be a quick write using one of Natalie’s exercises.
Today it was 10 minutes about a bicycle:
Enter my caffeine infused world of laughter and sarcasm.
"How vain it is to sit down to write when you have not stood up to live! Methinks that the moment my legs begin to move my thoughts begin to flow..." -- Henry David Thoreau, August 19, 1851
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Oh Paula, you’re taking me back to my childhood. I can feel the wind on my face as I’m gliding down the big hill I lived on. Always had to walk the bike up though as my legs were not strong enough to pedal to the top.
I remember taking turns with my friend and riding the handlebars. And then there was the time I was in 8th grade riding to New Mills Market with my best friend Becky. I wiped out. Oh goodness, my biggest concern was if anyone driving by saw me. This is the year af everything is embarrassing, right? So many memories of bike riding. Thank you for starting my day off with a smile!
Yeah, it was hard for me to choose one! Our bikes were our transportation as kids and are linked to so many memories and events!
Paula, I just wrote a primarily descriptive post because you inspired me. Thanks so much! I love that writers can help each other in this way. It is the type of contagion I’m after. I even screenshot your line “imaginations that blossomed…” Beautiful and true!
I love everything about this! Childhood memories came flooding back as I read this. I even laughed out loud as I read the part about the chain coming off mid-ride! If I had been drinking something when I read that, it probably would have sprayed everywhere! That happened to my sister and me more times that I care to count!! I may have to notebook about my bicycle memories this evening. Thank you for the inspiration!
I think we had the same bike! I love the idea of your imagination soaring throughout the summer — that is magical. Makes me want to read more stories about you and your sister.
Your posts are getting my creative juices flowing for sure. Bicycle! I feel like I could write forever about that – your memories are evocative – dirt driveways, banana seats, chains falling off. Oh… I’m nearly back there, on my bike.
What a great post! I only learned to ride my bike 2 years ago… thats a story in itself but I already have memories forming with my children… I love getting into a glimpse of your childhood – what wonderful memories.
Wow, I would love to read about your experience learning to ride a bike as an adult! I almost wrote about my learning to ride slice but went with a memory that involved less bloody knee caps and elbows! LOL. Keep jotting those memories with your children-they will be priceless!
So many memories are flooding back to me!! I lived on my bike as a kid. 🙂
So…quick question for you. What prompted you to slice in your journal and post as pictures? I’m curious to know about your process and thinking.
I want to write out my memories by hand. I find my thought process if very different when I do that. I think the slowness of it (compared to my typing speed) invites me to linger/envision a bit more and a bit longer and I am more immersed in the memories. I can often type at the speed of memory, but the handwriting puts it all in slow motion, which if you think about it in videos and movies, brings importance, nostalgia, and, focus to the moment. It’s kind of fascinating.
What a cool process! Thanks for sharing. I might try it, too! 🙂
Paula, I love this post! I just got Natalie Goldberg’s book in the mail this week and haven’t had a chance to crack the cover. Your post has made me even more eager to do so. I love how you tapped into your childhood memory and brought it to life. My favorite line is “It wasn’t the skill of our riding but of our imaginations that blossomed during those summer bike rodeos.” Fabulous post!