Thoughts from Chief Sjolander... John Deere Green... Im old, Im so old that when I was a kid, we rode bikes, climbed trees, drank water from garden hoses, and you knew your friends were home by their bike lying in their yard. The cool kids had either a Schwinn Stingray or a John Deere bicycle and if you were lucky, your friends who had one would let you ride theirs from time to time. I would have been happy with either one, but growing up poor meant I rode homemade bikes that I put togerher myself or with the help of some friends. They worked well for jumping and popping wheelies, so I was happy. I remember the first time I saw a John Deere bike. It belonged to a kid who lived in the next apartment building and he let me ride it. It was heaven on two wheels... I never forgot that bike. I get a call the other day from a very nice person in town, they had some items the wanted to donate to our Garage of Goodness and asked if I could pick them up, I stopped over and picked up the items. While visiting with this person, I see something that made my heart skip a beat...It was one of the old John Deere bikes that kids had back in the day it was well used and I bet it saw its share of jumps and wheelies. They said it was their sons bike and its been hanging there for quite some time. We visited about how that bike was the envy of every young boy back in the day. I asked that she never throw it away. I hope her son takes that bike home with him some day and just keeps in around. I hope he looks at it from time to time and remembers how much fun he had riding that bike up and down the road, the freedom that bike gave him, and how it felt to have the wind in his face while riding. I dont know her son. I know of him and I know hes had a very impressive and blessed military career. I wonder if that one yellow bike helped draw him in his chosen career path somehow. I wonder if he jumped on that bike, peddled as fast as he could and pretended he was flying over troubled lands where he helped save the day. We played cops and robbers on our bikes when I was a kid. Maybe those old homemade bikes did more than just teach me how to use a wrench and change a tire... Stay safe, Lee
Posted on: Sun, 07 Dec 2014 15:45:08 +0000
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