First Night Ride

After dinner and before bed Abigail wanted to go outside and run around.

As we headed through the garage, she changed her mind and decided she wanted to ride her bike. It wasn’t hard then to convince her we should ride our bikes together in the park, so I grabbed a flashlight, my bike and we headed out into the dark.

The moon was bright enough that we didn’t need the flashlight. Clockwise around the paved path we headed.

At first she was a little hesitant. The dark made what is normally very familiar somewhat not.

Coaxing her along and pointing out the bats overhead, she slowly got comfortable and began pretending to eat the bats as she rode along.

It was was definitely dark, but light enough to see the contrast of the trail against the grass.

Elevation differences had no contrast. Perception of speed became vague. Our bikes magically sped up down hill then slowed before we realized we could be scared.

A clear and definite “I want to do that” was all she said when I mentioned I used to ride bikes at night a lot.

We rounded the corners, climbed some hills and listened to the roar of a distant jet as we worked our way back toward home.

Obviously darker on the path through the trees, I used the flashlight to lead her way.

Down the gully, over the bridge and over the rail road tie she never got off. She road through the dark around the landscape and back to the light of the garage all on her own.

It was bedtime now. Time to sleep and dream of the next night ride.

– b