Car Bouncing

When my brother and I were seven and nine years old we lived in a two story white house along a gravel road approximately 3 miles from our grandparents’ (my Dad’s parents) farm.  In our young minds, it might as well have been 500 miles, because we could never spend enough time with them.

“When are we leaving?”  “How much longer will it take to finish the dishes?” my brother and I chimed in together.  “I am scrubbing the last pan now.  Go get your jackets on.” My Mother told us.  Finally, it was time to go.  My brother and I raced to the car and jumped into the back seat, while my Mom slid into the front passenger seat and my Dad positioned himself into the driver’s seat.    

As my Dad only traveled at a speed of 25 miles per hour on the curvy gravel road in the very dark night, I listened to my parents’ conversation.  On this particular evening, they were talking about the car we were riding in.  “This has sure been a good car for us.  I expect to get a few more good years from this car, a 57 Chevy.” My Dad told my mother who shook her head yes.  I was restless and bored.  Suddenly, a crazy and outrageous thought popped into my mind.  “Hmmm.  What if my brother and I bounce up and down in the back seat every time my Dad slowed the car down to turn a corner and after the corner was completed stop bouncing?”  I leaned over and whispered in my brother’s ear.  Yes, he thought it would be fun.

We bounced on the very next corner.  Because it was so dark, our parents did not notice my brother and I were bouncing.  Our parents said nothing.  As we approached the next corner, we bounced again.  My Dad looked at my Mom and asked, “Do you feel that?”  My Mom replied, “Yes.”  We traveled around another corner with more bouncing!  My Dad was really puzzled.  My brother and I managed not to laugh, but remain quiet.  At last we arrived at our grandparents’ farm.

My brother and I ran into the house.  My grandparents presented us with a bottle of soda pop.  We chose from all sorts of flavors, grape, orange, strawberry, 7up, Coke, and root beer.  “Pop, on the way over here the car seemed to jump up and down.  It was the strangest thing.”  My Grandpa and my Dad took a huge flashlight to go look at the motor in our car.  I just looked at my brother and pressed my lips together saying silently not to reveal our little joke.  After a great visit it was time to go home.

Riding home, my brother and I started the same bouncing again.  This time my Dad began studying the situation more intently.  My brother and I laughed a bit.  My Dad asked us, “Do you know what that is?  Are you doing anything?”  We just shrugged our shoulders.  The next corner we stopped the bouncing until the last corner before home and we bounced on that one.  My Dad said, “Well, I will have to check it out further tomorrow in the light.”

The next day my Mom asked my Dad if the bouncing was still occurring.  Dad said, “Nothing.”  My brother and I laughed and laughed about our little joke in private later.  We kept it as our little secret.

 

This is a picture of my paternal grandparents taken on their farm near Goodson, Missouri.  On the back row is my grandmother, my grandfather, and my Dad.  On the front row is myself and my brother.  As one can tell the sun was very bright that day.  That is the reason for our funny faces!