Penny Farthing

Any idea what a penny farthing is? It happens to be a bicycle. You've probably seen the old bicycles with the big, huge wheel in the front, and the smaller one in the back. That is a penny farthing. It was originally built by a Frenchman, but really became popular in England. The bicycle received its name from two English coins, the penny, and the farthing, or quarter penny. The front wheel was built rather large so you could get more speed from a single geared bicycle. Safety wasn't really a concern, because it wasn't uncommon to do a "header" from your perch on one of these bikes. Hitting a pothole, or having to come to an abrupt stop, usually launched you over the handlebars. These bicycles were rather difficult to master, and it was said, these bicycles were meant only for strong, young men. Well, my whole reason for rambling on about bicycles, and the history lesson, was to inform the world of the news about my daughter learning to ride her bike today! It was glorious! She just wasn't getting it for so long, it was rather frustrating for me and her. Then, she had a couple of moments where she rode aways without my help. I would stop, and when she finally stopped, she realized  there was quite a distance between her and myself. All she needed was a little taste of success and I knew she would hurdle it. She has no idea who the Wright brothers were, but it had to be that kind of moment when you finally accomplish some monumental task, that has failed time and again, and then you're on top of the world! And as a parent, you're just as ecstatic, because you hate to see your child struggle and fail over and over. But, I guess that's what growing up is all about. She's not 21 yet, so I can't take her out for a drink, but we are going to have a celebratory milk and graham crackers.