Red Dress

 

I learned to ride a bike at age eight. Not long afterward I started begging my parents and grandparents for THE bike. Not the one I had; the one I NEEDED. A Schwinn with a banana seat and high-rise handlebars. It even had tassels. It was beyond cool, and I couldn’t be cool without one. Nearly six decades have passed, and I only learned this year why I wanted one so badly. Captain Kangaroo peddled (See what I did there?) Schwinn bikes on his television show all through the 60’s. Between visiting Mister Green Jeans, waking Grandfather Clock and getting ping-pong balls dumped on his head, the captain would show off THE bike and proclaim it “the best.” I was older than his target audience, but back then households had one TV: what one of us watched, we all watched. Eventually, I got that bike. But, as I learned from another 60’s TV show, having isn’t always as pleasing as wanting.