Blue Tulip
When a friend contacted me and asked if I was interested in a bike trailer that she was giving was I was thrilled. This was it! The opportunity I was waiting for! We had an old trailer, but I knew the newer one was going to be way easier to pull and I could probably get into using it more. This was going to be my key to more exercise.

All I needed was a bike.

Sure I could go back to using my Mom's bike, but I thought it was worth looking into getting my own bike. Maybe if I got really excited about my bike I would be really excited about getting more exercise.

Of course, though, I had to screw things up from the start. I went to one of my bargain shopping havens to look for a bike. I found a bike for $69. It was a Kulana Sunfish (which I named Lilo.) From there I embarked on the adventure of getting it repaired (it was missing a pedal and the rear fender rubbed), getting screwed over by the repair place (Erik's Bike Shop), and then finding out that an inexpensive bike (cheap) is harder to ride.

Lilo was a cheap ladies cruiser bike. It was really tough to haul up the big hill because of the weight. I was just barely able to ride up the hill from work to home after a few weeks of riding.

One day I fought my way home, and left the bike and trailer in the front yard. I dragged my tired self and the baby inside. Minutes later both were gone.

(The end of the story is that I get a new bike, got some help and didn't cheap out, and discovered how enjoyable bike riding could be when you have a good quality bike.


Burn Unit
When I was nine or ten, we took a family car trip (nine of us!) to America's own mythic dreamland (California) and its capital of the heart (San Francisco), as well as its Disneyland (Disneyland).

From our perch in an Oakland campground, we visited San Francisco for touring activities, including a stop in Chinatown (my first taste of pressed duck) and some shopping. I bought a tiny model of a junk, for about $3.95. It formed the basis of my collection of items from around the world (which later came to include a jade statue from Japan and a wooden nat god from Burma among other things). Over the years it moved with me, but here in our most permanent home so far, it finally broke. Perhaps at the hands of a certain two year old, perhaps my own carelessness. Staring into the face of its missing mast and its broken adhesive between mast and sail, I knew I had to send off this memento of my youth and my first impression of San Francisco the way all great things should: in fire. So I resolved to set it afire upon the Mississippi River. When I related the plan to Blue Tulip, she suggested we bicycle down there. An adventure was afoot!

I decided to add to the burning by bringing in some other things representing lost items: a tooth (this one in fact), the "Paid in Full" receipt from my first trombone, an instrument which I simply cannot find anymore (sorry, mom!), and a business card from the company that I used to work for (we were bought by the company I currently work for) which was a most-beloved place to work (you have seen our old offices in many task proofs such as this one, this one, and of course this one).

The Funeral(s)
see also pictures & video below
After Blue Tulip prodded us to make it a proper family task, and after she was prompted to find something lost to add to the mix (and of course hit on the aforementioned Lilo), we geared up. We figured we could make the run down to the river on a lovely Friday evening with minimal difficulty. Henry did not much like getting in the bike trailer, but once we started, he was quite relaxed and happy. Eleanorest compared it to being on a roller coaster (yeah, I thought, and she'll get to see how slow roller coasters go at the start when we make the return trip up this freakin' hill!).

We traversed 2.8 miles down to the river to scout a good spot for burning and release. We chatted and explored a little bit; Eleanor playing with stones and asking about skipping. We prepped the junk with the items for burning, and added some newspaper to get a nice hot blaze started. As a wooden object over 25 years old, I figured things would be dry enough to burn pretty well, especially the sails. A little accelerant (some Goo Gone) was added to maybe help it along. A few spins of the lighter and the boat was ablaze! It was gently released into the water.

It promptly. Fell. Over.

And extinguished.

And washed to shore in the most pitiful display of un-Scylding-like failure not seen on these shores since the original poem was written.

After some prompting, Blue Tulip also tried to torch at least some of her manual. The wind kept blowing it out. She stood up and said, "Pyrotherapy?"

This is the word we use for our own ritual of having a fire in the back yard. The burning does us both good. I knew instantly she was on to something and we set out for home to finish the funeral in proper fiery style.

mini-Odyssey-interlude
Well getting home was a lot harder because it was getting late, the kids were tired, and of course, we live uphill from the river. (This is probably passe to SF residents with their legendary hills. And their youthful vigor.) But we made it. Along the way we encountered some stress—Eleanorest had to go to the potty, and the only obvious place (BK) was closed (interrobang‽). So we wound up in an apartment building, while Blue Tulip pushed for home with Henry. We slowly crept back, aided by the beautiful pale moon and the exquisite late Minnesota spring.

Final Eulogies
With the kids in bed, we poured some wine and got a good blaze going. The items were laid to rest in our fire ring and we spoke of days lost to time, of parts of ourselves, and of new beginnings.
Some of this was recorded on video, incidentally.