Late last year, when our Car finally gave up the ghost, we decided it would be time to try the socially unthinkable- life without Car. Originally, we intended this to be an experiment in health, but instead it has blossomed into an experience we should have begun much earlier.
First, we gave up Car. With trepidation, we freethinkingly used the proceeds and purchased Bicycles. As with Car, we had several choices of style, shape, color and size, even a choice of which proprietor to visit. We selected basic models for the entire family, even a training-trailer (one-wheel) for the youngest as a confidence builder. Nice, all-about-town models that could withstand the rigors of everyday use without breaking the bank. I commute to work, 12 miles daily; the wife uses a converted kid-trailer to fetch groceries and we all have great fun as a family.
Before, with CAR, we had to tithe various institutions for it's use. We dutifully paid insurance, petrol, maintenance and time-payments each month. My wife and I had to profess our skill in using Car to the State each year for Renewal as well as paying an Indulgence for the privilege of driving Car without fear of reproach by the Ministers of Justice.
Ah! but driving Car was a joy without equal! Safe inside the cocoon of steel and glass I could cruise the ribbon fantastic, not a care to my world. I could even play Radio and practice my Right to listen to the station of my choice. The smell of New Car was available in a can, if I thought it was getting stale inside. Car would take me to the end of the earth. Obeisance to Car was a small price to pay for safety in my Journey.
Bicycle, on the other hand, is quite an exercise in self control. In addition to learning a new Balance, I had to rethink and learn again personal responsibility. Bicycle has no safety net, and if Car hits you it hurts royally. Even so, practicing good Bicycle is done with a Helmet and a good deal of thought. Good things to teach the children...
But I am on my own Bicycle, I pay No One for the privilege of riding. I can see all the Cars around me with their occupants bound in steel and glass, oblivious to the richness of their surroundings. I can hear the birds above me, smell smells of flora and fauna and feel the Bumps in the Road. I do not have to take the concrete ribbon on my Journey, I can investigate the other paths, find new ways to see the world and taste the Bugs in my teeth.
Bicycle has taught me to save my cash as well. Nearly an eighth of my income was devoted to Car, now I can take my family places and do things that were never before possible. Some have asked about the Long Trip, what if we need to go to a distant place, far away? We have no needs, natural or artificial, that cannot be satisfied with Bicycle. Even a trip to the park has new meaning, for the Journey itself is richer and more meaningful to us. We find that our neighbors have faces and names. They wave as we pass, "How nice to see a family on Bicycle."
I think they are secretly envious of our freedom.