I wonder what it would be like to travel down life’s lane and relive some of its more precious memories. Perhaps, some of the happier times were while we lived in Oxford, England. Tony and I were big enough to explore on our own. Often we rode our bikes down to the playgrounds by the canal. It was exciting to ride across the railroad tracks, especially, if we could beat the train, when we heard whistling around the bend. Often I rushed ahead with Tony yelling at me to stop and wait, but I raced recklessly on dreaming that I was racing, racing, racing to win.
When we rode along the canal on our bike’s I could look across at Hillary’s house and her back garden. Some days, her mother invited me for tea. What scrumptious times they were. Tea would be set up in the garden with their fine English China and served with an assortment of tiny cakes, biscuits (cookies), and scones. The scones were my favorite. My eyes lit up as I chose the scone with the largest, plumpish raisins. One time, a white bunny came from his burrow in the side of the garden, and we pretended that this was the white rabbit from ‘Alice in Wonderland.’ I got to be Alice because that was my middle name.
Some of our most enjoyable times riding along the canal were when we rode as a family. We often rode bikes around the block in the evening, their blocks equaling three of our city ones. I loved the long rides along the canal when we took a bag of crusts to feed the ducks. If we were lucky, we’d see the lovely white swans that glided through the water so gracefully. If mom felt like it, we’d take the longer way around and ride through the farmer’s pasture. Pass the cows, horses, and sheep that were so gentle that we would stop and pet them.
Other favorite times were our Sunday trips to Central Park. There we walked through beautiful botanical gardens with every kind of rose imaginable, and the fragrances were heavenly. Tony and I were often allowed to run ahead a short distance, but we had to stay on the paths; we couldn’t frolic on the green grass that invited us so.
The exciting weekends were when the boats were on the canal and we’d watch the college teams compete and row against one another. It was exciting to run along side the boats and cheer them on. I had such a fickle heart—I cheered for whichever one was ahead. My reasoning being that the one ahead would win.
Reliving those precious memories makes me appreciate all my family has done for me. Appreciation of botanical gardens, Hillary’s friendship, the animals, the canal boat races, and riding as a family are all part of a precious heritage.