A Coach Built Pram 30 Years On

My day pauses as I receive the news that two little girls, one soon-to-be-born and one just embarked on the spoken word, together with their mum and dad, and anyone else (like me) who can't resist, will now have all the pleasure of a Mary Poppins coachbuilt pram (baby carriage) to brighten their days and lighten their loads...

Wow; they scored one on eBay! Such a brilliant contraption for real life!!

You can pile stuff in them, on them, under them, toddlers can sit up high or snuggle down low. Infants have no problem being stacked around with sibling {yes, kind of tumbled together like puppies), and all manner of gear a family might gather on any jaunt or journey.

Miles and miles we went on many-a sunny day, but overcast didn't stop us,and even rain storms were their own fun; miles and miles with that stellar suspension, that made it a pleasure too, for the one on foot.

A carriage with a spring such as this draws in delight by degrees, lending itself to walks that turn into cerished storybooks; sigh... slow down... listen...; listen to the children.

And that's why I paused in my day.. because that's what that baby carriage gave to me;
PAUSE; pause to drink in a moment in time, pause to weave the bright colours of the day, when two little girls were still about the business of arriving in this world; I got to really be there too.

Listen to the children; what they have to say
The world is changing each and every day
And still the ancient mystery goes on..
Help the children listen to its song
Help the children listen to its song...

PS I HAVE to say this about being out with little children in big storms; oftentimes it's really fun; great energy. There was a highly amusing book that came out in England years ago, we all had a good laugh over; the opening lines went something like this: The wind blew, and the trees swayed and the sky grew black.... and father said: "Let's go for a walk!" 
Well my (Scots) father had that tendency for sure, and that book definitely struck a chord with the British public, so I guess our dad wasn't the only one; a bit o' weather never did anybody any harm, was the character-building belief. Obviously you can take that too far.. But I'd hate to think of kids, anyone, forever and always missing out on the sheer joy and power of storms! So I will leave you with this very cool storm story of Bob Walker in Ohlone Wilderness:

~ Hiking with friends on a ridgetop (Ohlone Wilderness), Walker stopped to photograph the landscape. Ominnous clouds began to fill the sky. The temperature plunged. Heavy drops of rain began to snap and pop against the light jackets of the hapless hikers.

With a deep and unanimous sigh, the group reversed direction and began a grudging retreat toward the head of the trail.

Well, not quite unanimous. Walker shoved his camera into his ever-present belt pack and headed for the shelter of the nearest tree. "Where's everyone going?" he called, "I'm staying for rainbows." ~

Quoted from:
AFTER THE STORM: Bob Walker and the East Bay Regional Park District, by Christopher Beaver, Wilderness Press, Berkeley, California, 2007
www.wildernesspress.com