Day 260 – I Want to Ride My Bicycle

I Want to Ride My Bicycle

Day 260

Going down Hill on a Bicycle, A Boy’s SongBy Henry Charles Beeching

 

With lifted feet, hands still,
I am poised, and down the hill
Dart, with heedful mind;
The air goes by in a wind.

Swifter and yet more swift,
Till the heart with a mighty lift
Makes the lungs laugh, the throat cry:–
‘O bird, see; see, bird, I fly.

‘Is this, is this your joy?
O bird, then I, though a boy
For a golden moment share
Your feathery life in air!’

Say, heart, is there aught like this
In a world that is full of bliss?
‘Tis more than skating, bound
Steel-shod to the level ground.

Speed slackens now, I float
Awhile in my airy boat;
Till, when the wheels scarce crawl,
My feet to the treadles fall.

Alas, that the longest hill
Must end in a vale; but still,
Who climbs with toil, wheresoe’er,
Shall find wings waiting there.

I was delighted to open an email tonight to find that I have been awarded, by Pablo Buitrago,  that much coveted award:  The Versatile Blogger Award!

I would like to thank the Academy...

What surprised me is that I was awarded this once before by the Lovely Kathryn back in November and never, ever responded!  Fie on me, but as I always say, better to respond late than never!  A big thank you to two very thoughtful friends! And so without further procrastination and obliteration we will start with The Rules:

The rules of the Versatile Blogger Award are:

1. Add the Versatile Award photo on a blog post

2. Thank the award-giver and link back to them in your post.

3. Share 7 things about myself.

4. Pass the award along to 5 favorite bloggers.

5. Contact the chosen bloggers to let them know about the award.

Since I have taken care of the first part of The Rules, I am now in a sharing mood and I will treat you to 7 tidbits of information to let you get to know me better and I will even give you time to run away screaming…

1. Since you all know by now that I am a compulsive counter, you should also know something completely irrelevant to that fact:  I read 98 books last year.  It was not a banner year for reading as I usually take on at least twice that many.  My favorite of those  98? The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb by Melanie Benjamin.  My least favorite, you ask?  Renata by Angelina Elias (juvenile talent at best and poor, poor editing).
2. My favorite drink is a nice tall glass of ice water.  I keep a bag of ice at work so that my glass is always cold and the moment I get home from work, I have a new one prepared.
3. My cuticles are ragged and I tear the skin away leaving my fingers looking pretty….  awful.
4. My clothing is arranged in the closet by color then sleeve length and is only allowed to hang on wooden hangers.  My husband’s side of the closet drives me crazy.  I have tried to get my daughter’s closet organized properly, however within an hour it was a disorganized mess of pants, shirts, skirts and jackets.
5. I used to have nightmares about Kukla, Fran and Ollie and would run crying to sleep in between my mom and dad.  I hope I don’t dream about them tonight!!!
6. If asked the question, “Would you rather itch all of the time or have the sensation of needing to go to the bathroom all of the time, which would you choose?”, having experienced both, the former all of the time and the latter during pregnancy, I will pick the constant wish to use the bathroom. My hands are itching terribly right now and it drives me to distraction.  Itching – just say NO!
7. I used to be a “punk rock girl.”  A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away I wore black on the outside because black is how I felt on the inside, my hair was an inch long and I had an “attitude.”  I seemed a little strange, because I was.

Now, I know that you are all wanting to know even more, but all in moderation!  So, I will move on to the next portion of The Rules by nominating 5 more talented and wonderful people (in no particular order):

1. Jennifer Mendez Photography
2. Neil at The Dassler Effect
3. Karen Sue Ballou
4. Happiness to be Had
5. Mallery at Improvisations

Should any of you choose to accept this assignment, I look forward to seeing your responses.  You are all very versatile and oh, so interesting!