I had a deprived childhood, not necessarily poor but because I grew up in the country there were no trips to an air-conditioned movie theater, or getting together with friends at the local swimming pool. Summers were hot and tended to last a long time and I found the only way of cooling off was taking long walks in the woods behind our house. So a memory that really sticks out in my mind is the blazing summer day when my Dad came home from work with a used (second-hand he called it) bike in the back of his dusty truck. It was a surprise gift for me and it proved to me that he was not only thinking about me that day but that he also loved me; something that I can't remember him ever saying with words. That beloved blue bike became my freedom that day. I loved riding it through the alfalfa field to the gravel road behind our house. I'd pump as hard as I could up the hill, actually more of an incline and coast all the way down to where the road connected to the highway. That downhill trip was probably a quarter of a mile long and all the while I 'd feel the cool breeze surrounding me, it was the best kind of air-conditioning.
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