The Sacred in the Ordinary: October 2013

My daughter, Karen, is known by family and friends for instigating adventures that produce fun stories. Well, here is one.

I should have taken pictures from the beginning, but I didn't have the forethought. It all started with me chatting with Karen, maybe a year or more ago, about how it would be cool to have a bike trailer so I could carry stuff between home and town...computer, groceries from the Farmers' Market, etc. "But I'm not going to pay what they want for a new trailer on just a whim," and blah, blah, blah....

So my daughter who lives in Seattle says to me in a phone conversation in May or June, "I have a surprise for you! I found a bike trailer for FREE at a closing garage sale.You just need to get it home. I think you should fly here with your bike and peddle home...He-He :-) " (Remember I live in Michigan.)

So in August I visited and found the filthy, used trailer in their garage. We concocted a plan to make it small enough to take on the plane as a regular-sized first bag: $25, which was cheaper than any other way of getting it to Michigan and far cheaper than any used one I had ever noticed. I took it apart as much as humanly possible, wrapped it as tightly with cardboard as I could, used half a roll of duct tape to secure it, (Thanks, Todd, I owe you.) and measured it. Well, it was pretty difficult to determine if it would fit the airline's rules, but as a team we decided that if they were going to charge me for it being too big, I would tell them that it was theirs and leave it behind.

Lastly, I needed a way to carry the monstrosity (27 pounds and wildly awkward) from Karen's house about 5 blocks to the bus stop, on the bus to the light rail, on the light rail to the airport, and through the airport to the baggage check. I made a neck/shoulder strap of duct tape and Karen fabricated a handle that I was uncertain would hold.

It didn't. While I waited for the bus, I used some twine I had in my backpack to re-fashion a handle. Then on to the bus, banging it into everything and tripping over it twice trying to pay and get to my seat with it, my backpack on wheels, and my laptop computer. The light rail was a bit easier and the airport the same.

Thankfully, no one blinked at its size and unwieldiness and they accepted it without question. Hooray!!! When I arrived in Grand Rapids, and collected it from baggage, the neck strap broke just as I got to the curb for my ride. We made it! Here's what it looked like when I got it home.

After a few days to recover from the journey, I brought it inside and opened the package. How did I get it all in there?

Oh, it smelled like seawater! Salty and seaweedy! Pine needles and leaves and a few spiders too. I had to try to remember how I had taken it apart and how it would go back together.

But first it sorely needed a bath, literally.

And a good drying on the line.

After some brain teasers of where all the pieces went, here it is assembled in my living room work space. It needed just a little reinforcement with heavy duty duct tape in some areas where the fabric had been stressed from years of use. (Do you notice a duct tape theme emerging?)

But, of course, I brought this all the way from Seattle just for you!

She moved in and slept in it for weeks until I got it outside.

Will you be willing to travel with me, my kitty? You'll need to fasten your seat belt.

Finally, the real trial. It pulled well and easily. But with all I had on my plate this fall, it was just in time to put the bike and trailer away for the winter. The adventure will have to wait for next spring to continue.