(Mis)Adventure on a Sunny Day

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, we had some gorgeous sun and blue skies here at the beginning of February. With another morning dawning clearly bright with warming temps (mid-50s) and a good bit of wind to keep those clouds at bay, Alton and I decided to laze around the house in the morning and hit a local park for playtime and a picnic lunch. I was eager to jump on my hybrid bike, my "medium-sized" one out of the three bikes that I own, because last night Andy had set up a new mileage computer on it (Christmas gift) and installed twist grip shifters, which I was excited to try on the swept-back handlebars. Unlike my big Xtracycle, the hybrid does not provide a lot of space to carry stuff along with me; I'd modified a small-ish purse that I love but wasn't using much to serve as a mini pannier underneath Alton's child seat on that bike.

But I'd removed that little purse to clean it off after a ride on a wet/muddy day, so my wicker handlebar basket was all I had for storage. No problem! I tossed in my wallet and phone, packed up some food in Alton's lunch box and added that on top, and with my keys in my pocket we were ready to go. We arrived at the park with many other families taking advantage of the sunny day and happily climbing the play structures, but Alton wanted to eat first.

Hunger satisfied for now, he said that he wanted to go for a walk. Whoops! I left the bike lock behind at home. No matter, I walked the bike alongside us down the path so that I didn't feel nervous leaving it parked unlocked on a busy day. Alton had brought along his binoculars, a new birthday gift, and was using them to peer at trees and a nearby creek. We kept walking and came along to the little pond where one of the small manmade creeks in the park spills out and a little stage with benches and a roof overlook the water. Here Alton decided he wanted to toss tiny pebbles into the still water and watch it ripple out. He exhausted the supply of nearby rocks and pinecones, then found a flexible stick and wanted to lean waaaay out over the firm stage surface to dip it in the water. I told him it was too far to lean; he'd fall in. Problem-solver that he is, he stepped off of the stage and into the soft dirt at the water's edge to poke the soggy mud and flick droplets out into the middle of the pool.

I snapped a picture of his fun with my phone about 14 seconds before he fell in! Whoops! Lost his balance and toppled to his knees in the shallow water, soaking his sneakers and fleece pants, and dampening the wrists of his shirt and jacket where he thrust his hands forward to catch himself. Luckily, the bike was right next to me since I'd forgotten that lock. I grabbed him out of the chilly water and hustled him onto firm ground where the bike was waiting. But there was no extraneous stuff on this streamlined ride, so I didn't have any kleenex or anything to towel him off. I grabbed my non-cozy polyblend orange safety vest to try to squeegee away most of the water on his hands, but he shivered and started his little chin trembling with the cold and disappointment of falling down. I decided to shuck off his sodden, dripping pants and shoes altogether, settled him into his sun-warmed bike seat, and covered him with my jacket so the residual heat from my body on the fabric immediately soothed his damp skin.
Although it was a sunny day, the air and wind were still very cool, and I was only wearing a short-sleeved t-shirt under my jacket. Time to get out of here! I threw his soggy clothes and my safety vest into the bike basket, jammed the lunch box next to Alton in his seat, and shaved my travel time in half on the one mile ride back home. We bolted upstairs to get him into dry, warm clothes, and soon he was tucked in bed with a story before his nap. What an unexpected adventure!