the sky was vibrant today. so blue, God could roll it up, wrap a crayola paper on it and sell it in a crayon box for heavenly bodies to color with. that vibrant. and when the sky is vibrant, i want to do vibrant things. like plant a garden. paint the house. write a book. adopt a couple orphans. cure cancer. you know, normal things.
but being that i hate disheartenment from unachieved lofty goals, i settled for alternate vibrancy. a bike ride.
a bike ride where i vibrantly cranked the pedals on my not-so-vibrant piece-of-crap bike. well, it’s not really mine. it’s brandyn’s old one, and it’s very small. and i know i look like this riding it, but it’s okay because i’m getting fantastic exercise. fantastic because the gears are kinda broken and it’s stuck on the one that feels like the chains are attached to two lead bricks.
so i pedaled, exhaustively cycling through the lead brick rotations until my thighs twitched and stung and sweat soaked my dyed hair past its already cleopatran blackness. it was a mess. but lainey was content, pulled behind the rickety clown bike in her new little cart my dad found on craigslist. in fact, now that i think of it, the cart i’m sure only added to the clownishness of it all, and when i had to stop in the back of the neighborhood to take a rest and lay the bike down in the middle of the street (broken kickstand, you know) with the cart all cock-eyed and lainey crying…well, now i’m just laughing hard.
if our life was the cover of a book, it would so not be glossy. it would be torn and pasted with old food and lost somewhere in the back of the library.
but it would be funny. and real. and ours. oh, and vibrant.
on my tombstone someday, please let it just say…
she was vibrant.
…and she loved.
~k
car…i’m dancin’ to this song for you tonight.
Pah! Who wants a glossy life anyway? Much better to have a lived-in life. If our life was the cover of a book, we would be right there with you at the back of the library!
p.s. I love your cycling shoes!
I LOVE this post!
Here’s to messy imperfection and the grand idea that flops and yet was a success simply because you gave it all you had.
🙂
Ode to those who can cling to their dignity when all their props are removed! No training wheels–this is for real! Ride, baby, ride…wind in your face, in the wrong gear…with no fenders and mud leaving a streak up your backside…who cares…you’re moving while others are safely standing still. You go girl!
Hahahaha, I have a biffed bike too! It actually looks pretty decent, but the gears are broken and OF COURSE they’re broken in the impossibly-hard-to-pedal mode. But it’s a better workout right?! 🙂
hahahahahah. i am totally trying to envision you riding that clown bike with the kid trailer behind you…can’t stop laughing.
i bet you looked like a jackass!!! ha ha ha. jk.
i happy one though and that is ALL that matters. well, that and a happy lainey riding along in oblivious happiness!!
xoxo
I just laughed outloud at your very detailed description of you and your bike! Thanks for one last smile before I hit the hay:-)
sweet post. sweet song. thanks for a fun visual to start my Friday morning.
AWESOME mental picture right now…laughing…LOUD! glossy tends to get boring after a while, i’m told. thanks for the much needed smile today!
Just looked it up in Webster’s….there it was..plain as day under VIBRANT…KELLE! Swear. 🙂
two new posts? where the heck have i been? oh, that’s right … e n j o y i n g!
i, too, was giggling pretty good at you & your bike. you really know how to tell a story.
and the country post? LOVE IT! because that’s me … can’t get enough of those big open fields.
i’ve gotta get going … g is about to shut the computer down for the weekend. there is some rehab about to happen in this office. and i can’t wait for it to be done!!
oh, and one more thing …
happy mother’s day to all you mamas out there! and on sunday, do something that makes YOU happy!
i love that you embrace it all, the sad bike, the cart (which i want to see a pic of), crying lainey. well i just laughed with you. now that is life. 🙂
What a brilliant post. I love blue skies such as the one you described. Vibrant days are so beautiful.
You are such an artist. Your photography is amazing of course, but what blows me away is how you create a seamless flow of movement with your words and images that tell a beautiful story, even if it’s just a bike ride gone wrong. Every post is a pleasure to read.