The Mechanic

June 4, 2011

THE MECHANIC  cont.

We had moved to the San Fernando Valley in the fall of 1959. It was much more like being in the country. People had large lots where they could have animals and it was a more laid back style of living. Denny had long since given up his beloved tricycle in favor of a real two wheeler. He had earned the money on his own by doing odds and ends of chores, and bought the bike with his own money. Obviously, he eventually broke it, took it apart, fixed it, broke it again, fixed it again, etc., etc. By the time he was just barely ten, he had become bored with the bike and wanted something a little more meaningful, a little more advanced, a little more challenging, if you will.

He bargained with his mom and me for a motor scooter. The deal was that if he could come up with one half of the money by selling his bike and/or working for it, we would pay the other half. The deal was done and it seemed like no time at all before Denny came up with his share of the scooter. His mom and I had to struggle a little harder. We soon found an old "Cushman" motor scooter, if I remember right. Denny tore into that thing with a vengance and got it running pretty good too.

Remember I said that the lots where we now lived were big? Ours wasn't very wide; only 72 feet, but it was very long, 517 feet. As part of the "Deal" Denny couldn't ride the scooter on the street. However, behind the house and immediate back yard was the rest of the lot; about four hundred feet. Denny cleared the weeds and any other debris from the entire perimeter by the fence and that 950 foot rectangular length became his test track and his personal race track. You should have seen him go around that track. He scared the crap out of his mom and me, so we just had to quit watching.

STAY TUNED FOR THE NEXT INSTALLMENT OF "THE MECHANIC"

Papa