Wagons Ho!

A wagon is the single best toy a child can have. With it you can be a cowboy with a chuck wagon, an Astronaut in his spaceship or a British Sea Captain squaring of with Napoleons’ fleet. The choices are limitless. Or you can just hitch up the family dog and ride around while he runs wild and free. This option is even better when it’s your kid brother who only weighs 30 pounds. This was not a one time trial of ours; we routinely tied the dogs to the wagon. If not the wagon then we just put on roller skates and held on while they went for a run.

This day, in particular was exciting; because it was the first time we had tied the dogs up to the wagon. Unlike a horse and buggy, you have absolutely no control over where you’re going.  For example: the bramble bush, a forest of low hanging pine tree branches, the garden or small cliffs. These are all viable options you must be prepared for. This being the first test of our idea, we volunteered Ian to as test pilot. Being the smallest of us, we figured if he had to bail he would have the easiest time doing so. (Our logic as kids was flawless.) The dog was hitched and held back, Ian loaded in the wagon and the gate opened. We released the hound, who took off with a jolt. Ian’s head was flung back as the wagon accelerated from zero to blazing in an instant. George, the dog we had chosen for the test took no time in going up the near cliff adjacent to the driveway, and the wagon followed, with Ian clutching the sides for dear life. The woods were next, the wagon followed slapping tree branches and stumps on the way through, Ian still holding on for dear life just had to endure the pine branches slapping his face so he did not fall out of the fast moving wagon.

George now kicked it into high gear when he ran down the massive hill that was our backyard. The wagon spurred him faster because it almost out ran him. Ian hit a bump, the wagon took flight, and Ian was flying for a brief second before gravity decided it would take control again, slamming the wagon, with Ian clutching it, back to the ground.

God has this amazing skill to keep us alive even though we as humans try so hard to kill ourselves on a daily basis. That day he made a squirrel run across the dog’s path and divert his attention and path of travel away from the road he was barreling to. That squirrel saved Ian’s life that day, for if the wagon would have kept on it way Ian would have been road kill. We laugh about it now, but we were all very worried at the moment. We decided, that after that close run in with death, bicycle helmets would be a requirement from now on. That would make it safe.

Hope today's a good one,
austininva