Bicycle Girl

It's Tuesday 2nd September.
Little Man has gone to school and Little Lady remains home with me for her last few days before her own school life starts.
She is in fine spirits, her usual bubbly, friendly, adorable self.
She is dressed in a very pretty, floaty,  Monsoon summer dress which I bought for £1.75 from a charity shop.
She loves it because the skirt part of the dress is full and twirls right out when she spins round.
I love it because it is exactly the kind of dress I adored when I was a child.
I had a thing about spinning around wearing twirly-wirly skirts and dresses.

It's sometime after lunch, we are wondering what to do.
I suggest a bicycle ride along the canal tow path and through the park.
The suggestion is met with huge enthusiasm.
Big smiles, jumping up and down and clapping hands.
So we hastily get ready, try and fail to locate Barbie cycle helmet in the mess of the cellar (she ends up using Little Man's one, but is remarkably un-bothered by it's boyishness).
Spend an Age selecting precisely the right companion to ride along in the bike carrier.
The Lucky Chosen-one is Minnie Mouse.

We are all set and off we go.
Notice rather black looking clouds on the horizon, but Little Lady is already off and pedalling down the street, so I run after her.
We reach the canal and sure enough it begins to rain, just a little warm, light drizzle.
We keep going, we are now in the park,  her pedalling and me pushing-up-hills/running-behind-down-hills.
And the rain becomes more persistent.
We have no coats, we begin to get quite damp.
We keep going, Little Lady is singing and chanting some sort of Faster-faster-faster-wheeeeeeeeeee-this-is-FUN-type thing.
And suddenly without warning, the rain really lets rips and we are in the midst of a torrential downpour.
We scream and laugh, pedal/run as fast as we can to the nearest tree to take shelter.
We wait a while under the dripping branches but the rain doesn't stop.
It is absolutely pouring.
We have a quick stay-or-go discussion and decide to Go.
Out from under the tree, we pedal/run through the pouring rain.
We get extremely wet, soaked to the skin, drenched.
We are laughing a lot.
And suddenly the rain subsides as fast as it came, and the downpour is over.
We are still laughing a lot, rain streaming down our faces.
We are very, very, very, incredibly wet.
And somehow very, very, very, ridiculously happy.
We can't stop laughing.

We make it home, strip our clothes off and get into our pyjamas.
We snuggle on the sofa, our hair wrapped in towels.
It was the most fun I've had in the rain in a very long time.
And the memory of that one hour, on a fairly ordinary Tuesday afternoon in September, will remain with me forever.

Comments

[Ankita Vj (India)q]

Awww...this was super cute...even i was and am a lover of twirly skirts....blessed with a baby girl recently this year...n rainy season has just started was dreaming to njoy the rains some day when my tiny one grows up a little...n just stumbled upon this sweet memory of yours while going thru all ur archives...it felt like i too want to njoi the rains exactly same way....ohh myyyy when will tiny L grow up...

[Rita]

aw, I love this. Still smiling. God bless you two. :0)

[kitschen pink]

Well done you for taking the walk despite a few miserly black clouds! All good clean fun!
I so want some of those pink spangly thingy's for my bike! t.x

[simone]

Precious memories. I hope Minnie Mouse didn't get too soaked!

[Lynn]

That was just beautiful. And how great that you've got it all written down to treasure years from now! (I enjoyed Eat, Pray, Love too, by the way...)

[Anne Bebbington]

Many years ago I used to work with a lady who, when out in that fine drizzle which soaks you through without appearing to be very much, used to raise her face to the sky and revel in what she called 'Sherbert rain' as it made your face feel like your tongue does when sherbert sizzles on it. Ever since I always do the same and my children laugh at Mum and her 'Sherbert rain'. Sunshine is glorious but I've always been a firm believer that you can't get any wetter than wet so once you're soaked through enjoy it too - plus of course any excuse to get into the jimmies and slob the rest of the afternoon away!

[http://lavenderhouse.typepad.com]

Gawd - how do you have time to keep a written diary and blog? I agree with you about being in a similar place. I currently feel like I am swimming through treacle as my brain has come to a bit of a stand still as I make adjustments to my life whilst fitting in lots of things for other people ie the kids etc. I have been a stay at home mum for 9 years. I dont think i should expect miracles for myself overnight. I am going to try to pace myself, whilst at the same time achieving little things - I am trying to step back from the overloading myself with guilt and jobs to do (very tricky). I really want to get on and do all sorts of things but the credit crunch isnt helping as I feel it is the wrong time to branch out and do something really exciting. How did we time all that wrong then?!?!?!? I love the idea of the Fly website. In my head I want to paint all of my rooms again etc but really there is no need as such. I must learn to pace myself but I find it very frustrating. I want everything to be OK straight away. I want to come up with strategies and plans to help myself achieve this. May be we should blog a few things we discover/have found that help us do this. I have done one blog about it today - bit boring - but has really helped me. Ramble, ramble, sorry - Lots of love Emma xxxxx
PS Going to country living fair but on Sunday - think you are going sat - shame!

[cathleen]

Lucy, I loved reading about this sweet little day you had with your little girlie. What a dear memory to hold in your heart. Think of how she will remember this too. Moments such as these are such a treasure.

[Fiona]

What a great memory to have. Those kind of unplanned moments are always the best. Love the twirly skirts. I was a twirly skirt lover when I was little too.(still am in fact!)

[Cele]

Getting really wet when its unexpected can be such fun. After the first few drops of rain you realise that its unavoidable and let yourself enjoy it. The rain is rejuvenating I think. The warming up afterwards is also lovely.

[Vanessa]

What a fab memory, I have one similar with a walk we decided to take in the Lake District last year, where my little one decided to go paddling through a little stream in the middle of the path in bare feet in the middle of October.

She loved it!

Vanessa x

[sarah]

It's those little moments in time that make big happy memories. Her swishy dress is so pretty what a bargain!
Sarahx

[Ange]

Awww, fab, fab post - what a wonderful memory. I too loved swirly, floaty dresses - in fact still do, which is suprising when I live in trousers!
A
xx