Hello Everyone.
My apologies for the absence of the ContestHound.com Daily Contest Update over the past few weeks. I came down with an unexpected illness. Things are once again back to normal so on we go.
Editor's Note: Having written over 350 stories we thought we needed a little sabbatical. So, until the end of February, we will be in re-runs. Please enjoy these previously published Neva tales from not so long ago.
Originally Published: April 25, 2002
As soon as we got home with our 2 1/2-year-old daughter Neva's first tricycle, I hurried into the garage and put wooden blocks on the pedals. I knew instinctively that was the thing to do. I sensed I had entered into that exclusive realm of fatherhood, reserved solely for those of us with a hammer, nails and scraps of wood. I couldn't imagine feeling more satisfied, dare I say it, more proud.
I was prying the blocks from the pedals yesterday while I reflected on Neva's recent attempts at riding. Any efforts she made to move forward were met with such resistance that even the laws of physics would have a hard time explaining it. While I analyzed and speculated, hypothesized and contemplated, theorized and pondered, Neva spent the better part of three weeks going backwards ... in circles.
I knew in my heart the blocks of wood had to go. But my feelings of defeat soon eased to anticipation. As I carried the bright red tricycle to the front of the house I knew that Neva would soon be riding off on some great adventure.
She climbed aboard, hands reaching the handle bars. Her tiny feet clasping the newly freed pedals. She pushed with her legs and the tricycle obeyed. She inched forward. A little momentum, and off she went ... three glorious feet forward!
She stopped. She looked back at me. And with a triumphant smile, she pedaled backwards. For the next half an hour, I watched as Neva rode -- three feet forwards, three feet backwards, forwards, backwards, forward ...
Happy sweeping,
Bob Gunther
Webmaster, ContestHound.com
