It pays to clean out the basement every once in a while. I moved the Christmas tree and uncovered this family treasure. This is Nonna's bike. Nonna is the beloved grandmother to my two daughters. At close to 90, she doesn't ride bikes anymore, but she is still an active member of her church and community in Slater, Iowa. The daughter of Swedish and Norwegian immigrants, she can still make killer Swedish meatballs and the most delicious kringla you have ever tasted. She mails a coffee can of kringla to my girls every so often. We fight over every one ! Nonna, we are keeping your bike safe and sound. Maybe one day your five adorable great-grandchildren will be scootin' around Birmingham on it. I'll take pictures, I promise!
The Tune du Jour is "Common Faith" by Michael Dulin
PARIS COUNTDOWN...27 DAYS!!
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30 comments:
I've been visiting your blog quite often but it is the first time I really want to comment.
The love and kindness feelings I could sense when reading your lines gave me gooseflesh.
You made my day. Thank you.
Virginia, You can't miss with this - a sweet and loving tribute AND Michael's wonderful music with it. I'll be waiting for those pictures as well.
Hello Virginia !
And You, when are You will be scooting ??? Smile...
You love Michael Dulin, don' You ???
Have a nice day !
Bikes make wonderful memories!!
It is early sunday morning here and Michael's music contributed to a relaxing day ahead.
Lovely tribute to Nonna. More power to her!! Have you jeard of the Frenchwoman, Jeanne Clement from Arles, who finally passed away a number of years back at the age of 122? She had ridden her bike around town until she was a hundred, then fell and broke her hip. She had all her wits right up to the end. Google her.
This could only come from your photographer's eyes, V! Your observation of lines, curves, and shapes and how you frame them in a nice photo like this ...
So many memories around bikes...Who doesn't remember his first bike?
LOve your post today, as usual, Virginia, photo and words.
So, do you come "tout au bout" of my jetty tomorrow? ;-)
A legacy bike! How wonderful for you daughters and their children to have something like this.
There are a lot of bike shots floating around the CDP recently. Did I miss a theme day or something?
I agree with Bibi, that's a lovely tribute!... and a nice photo too.
Maryelene, Thank you for commenting today. Your nice remarks are always welcome. Please visit often.
Web, No biking pour moi!! And yes I do love Michael Dulin. He is a wonderful friend, a great "part time" boss, and I admire his musical talent tremendously.
Question for all: Did anyone have trouble downloading their photo on BLogger yesterday? This is not the photo I intended to use but ended up having to use it because one I had photoshopped would not load. Grrrrr,
Alice, To answer your email question, Nonna is my former mother in law not my mom, but dear to me nontheless.
Bonjour V...looking forward to my November visit with you. PUH-leeze stop cleaning - throw your energy into planning your visit to Paris so that I can help you fine tune it; the cleaning can wait for January!!!
xx,
M
Good morning, Virginia! Nonna's bike is a very sweet reminder of her presence in your life. The fact that you still have it says so much.
I wasn't sure what you meant when you said you couldn't load things. I haven't tried lately but I can't get any videos to load and I wanted to run a short video of scupanong grape vines in the breeze with a bird call in the background. No such luck.
This is a heart-warming post, Virginia!
Hey Virginia, I've been waiting for the bike photo you promised and here it is. Lovely. The bike and the photograph. Nice text too.
Cheers!
Snap,
Not the photo I wanted to use.I had photoshopped one during my one to one at the Apple Store and it was a neat BW similar to this one with a bit of Gaussian blur razzamatazz. Blogger would NOT let me download it yesterday. Maddening
Mary,
Let me clean. It keeps my head on straight. :)
Eki,
You will enjoy this tidbit. I was too lazy to find the tripod so I stacked two picnic coolers on top of each other and added a bath towel! Somewhere Cartier-Bresson is spinning in his grave again!
Lovely story... I hope to be as active and sharp as Nonna at that age!
We spent time with our grandparents in Iowa every summer. Most of my days were spent cruising around their little town on this bike. It used to have wire baskets on both sides of the back wheel. I would go to the grocery, visit my great grandparents, go to the town pool and just about everywhere on it. It was almost thrown out when my grandfather's garage was cleaned out. I intervened and my dad drove it across the country to bring it to me. I am looking forward to fixing it up so I can ride with my children! Great picture Mom!
Melissa
Virginia, I really like the wooden door contrast with the mildly rusty look of the chrome wheels.
I have to ask, but I already know the answer :) ... are you going to share some kringla?
Yes I did have trouble, I've had trouble all bloody day. I gave up and left the blog/hopping until now. What is this you speak of, Kringla? You know the Vikings are the ancestors of the Isle of Man residents.Love the personal post today. I'm sure the bike will still be around long after we have all popped off.
B., Kringla is a soft and sort of like a cookie shaped like a pretzel. Not too sweet, just good!!!
Chuck,
You'll have to take that up with Nonna if you want some. We're not sharing.
Melissa, I had forgotten you also rode this bike. I found the seat and handlebars while I was slinging stuff right and left in the basement. It could use a tune-up, but so could I!
Lovely post and photo, Ms. 27 days!
Jill- HA It's getting late, let's just call me MS. 26 DAYS!!!! See that grin over there on my face??? Yep it's there most of the time! Thanks.
Wow, you come from good genes, Virginia. :-)
I had to google kringla to find out what it is. :-)
Thanks for the kind words about my photography skills. I will be getting a new camera soon. Will keep you updated.
We all rode the bike, i was usually stuck on the back with a foot in each of the baskets on the back. When I was lucky enough to go out on it alone, i sometimes would pack my dolls in the baskets as well. then at some point, nana and poppa decided I needed my own bike. They would drive me "across town" to a friends home, and I would ride the bike home. With poppa on my tail with his hazard lights on. It was a beauty of another era, the kind with the banana seat. It was all mine for the two weeks out of the summer we spent in Slater, IA.-Kathleen
See what this bike means to my girls? It's memories on wheels. That should have been my title. Nonna , see how much they remember???
The bike is in a really good shape!
And all the memories seems intacts too!!
Hope,Nonna was able to see this!
V, they make some very cushy bikes these days for us Boomers, even "recumbent" ones with full backrests. If I can bike, you can bike, sister.
stupendous shot... love it...
**Sigh** I love this shot. I just found you through Bibi's site and I love it here. I hope someday I can be as good a photographer as you.
I just started doing a daily photo for Orange County in my blog (I'm a writer by trade), and I am obsessed with getting the right photos everyday. When I see a simple photo like this, I am inspired.
I also started doing a daily song about a week ago, I see you do that as well!
Sorry for the long comment, just excited to find your site *)
Suz
This has joined the group of my favorite of yours ... it's a large group. Just wonderful.
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