A BICYCLE in Summer

As a kid summer wouldn't have been the same without a bicycle. Summer meant freedom from school. Each morning meant freedom to have an adventure.

A ride up the road to the pear orchards to where the new houses were being built, pilfering wayward nails from the building site, back home to work on the tree house.

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Or maybe it was a ride into town to check out what was new at the toy store and a stop at the deli for a sandwich.

Maybe just a ride up to the school grounds to see if anyone was hanging around the basketball courts.

Riding with friends. No helmets. No handbrakes. Just bandaids on our knees covering up the scratches that had just been sprayed with Bactine. Apparently Bactine is still made, but I haven't seen any in decades. I'd like to smell it again. It's one of those smells from childhood that I sort of miss.

This is my submission for Sepia Saturday and a wish that all fellow Sepians remember the good times a bicycle gave them.

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Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 8 available at Amazon.

They Called Him BULLDOG

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Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 8 available at Amazon.

The Cavalry FAN DANCER

With leave being weeks away, the guys were getting anxious for a little entertainment. Henry said he'd seen a fan dancer in the big city and thought he could recreate it. The guys weren't convinced, but here's Henry out looking for his costume.

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Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 8 available at Amazon.

The Writing's ON THE WALL

My submission for Sepia Saturday are amateur portraits of women. I'm especially drawn to shots of woman with textured backgrounds. That's as deep as I'll get this week other than to say many women go through life feeling invisible. It doesn't get any better as they get older. You can imagine these women fading into their backgrounds.

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Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 8 available at Amazon.

NATTY NED the Cavalry Man

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Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 8 available at Amazon.

FLEAMARKET Cavalry

Just your average Cavalry fleamarket. Old trucks, boxes of Jello, and items you won't find anyplace else. Open only on Saturday. Best hour 14:50.

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Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 8 available at Amazon.

The PACKAGE from Home

A pack of gum? A love letter folded up like origami? What has these two fellows so fascinated and the third working as the lookout? My mind runs in all sorts of directions.

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This photo is from the Louise Bigelow Schnabel album, same as the last post with the goat.

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Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 8 available at Amazon.

It's a horse! It's a Harley! IT'S A GOAT!

When confronted with this week's Sepia Saturday prompt I thought, "Cows, maybe cows. I know have pictures of cows." In fact I have some very nice 35mm slides of cows taken by Betty Schnabel's father. Cows give milk and eat grass. What's there not to like about a cow? But goats it must be. So I went on a search for a photo of a goat. I have posted a couple goat photos in the past (here and here), but I needed something of better quality. It had to say GOAT!

And then I found it. A very small snapshot in the old photo album of Betty Schnabel's mom, Louise Bigelow Schnabel. A page of photos of World War I cavalry fellas having a good time. But none of them was having as good a time as this fella riding a goat.

Now, I always thought the cavalry rode horses or camels, but a goat was a whole new idea. Perhaps this was just in training. Funds were low, just give them goats to get started. Imagine a parade ground with a cavalry riding goats. I'd give at least a buck fifty to see that.

In the case of this fella I'm guessing his pre-military form of transportation was a motorcycle. During the training Harley the goat would have to do.

Click on image to see it larger.

And I have to say—with a smug look on my face—that at least my guy is "riding" the goat and not trying to sit and have a chat with it as the Sepia Saturday fella is doing. I mean, come on. Make an effort. Sure, your hat is funnier than mine, but I bet mine was making vroom vroom sounds.

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Tattered and Lost volumes 1 to 8 available at Amazon.