Some things just not a good idea

link Grant McGee

The Lady of the House and I were getting rid of stuff from our shed; including a pair of stilts.

I pondered giving them a try.

I thought better of it. I could see myself falling and breaking a leg or an arm.

Then I remembered another older guy who “played” with something he shouldn’t have: My dad and my cousin’s motorcycle.

I was just a kid at a family cookout, more interested in what was coming off the grill than what was going on around me. Come to think of it that’s how I’ve handled much of life.

My cousin Dave had arrived at the cookout on a motorcycle. After hot dogs and hamburgers had been eaten my dad was insisting Cousin Dave let him take the motorcycle out for a spin.

This was wrong for a couple of reasons: My dad had never ridden a motorcycle. He had also consumed some refreshing summertime libations.

My older brother tried to convince my father to get off the motorcycle but in a cloud of dirt and gravel, with what few strands of hair he had fluttering in the breeze, my dad thundered off into a nearby field and disappeared.

Moments later dad appeared on top of a nearby hill. I remember thinking that he was going too fast. Next thing I knew the motorcycle was down and my father was up…in the air and over the side of the hill. My brother and Cousin Dave were off and running to Dad’s aid.

What my mom saw from the kitchen window described it best…

“I saw your father on the hill on a motorcycle,” she said later, “And I wondered, ‘What’s he doing on a motorcycle?’ Then he was flying through the air over the hill and I wondered, ‘What’s he doing flying through the air?’”

Well, Dad was OK. He had Cousin Dave’s motorcycle fixed. And the whole thing was hardly ever mentioned again.

Except by me.

Grant McGee is a long-time broadcaster and former truck driver who rides bicycles and likes to talk about his many adventures on the road of life. Contact him at his blog:

grantmcgeewrites.com.