Green Machines
These date all the way back to one of our Christmases in Norwalk. I don't think Diah was even born yet if I'm not mistaken. It was one Christmas morning Teandra and I woke up to find two of these fully assembled and ready to go. We were like....well...like little kids on Christmas morning. They were the hottest toys out at the time. They were Big Wheels on steroids. Who wouldn't want a Green Machine? You weren't cool at that age unless you had one.
Now you would think that we weren't able to fully enjoy them on the day we got them, right? Afterall, it was the middle of winter in Iowa. It wasn't like they were going to operate very well in the snow. We didn't have to worry about that though. The downstairs basement wasn't finished at the time. Teandra and I had the entire basement at our disposal. Not sure how many square feet it was but it was more than enough for us. We weren't that big then so it seemed like a whole other world to us.
I may be getting a little ahead of myself. What else is new though, huh? There are some folks out there who aren't up on Green Machines. The picture gives you a little insight but you really can't fully grasp it unless you had ridden one. It did away with the old-fashioned steering that was on the Big Wheels. With two different gear shifts. you felt like you were operating a race car. You could hit the brakes and skid either way with the greatest of ease. It just didn't get much better than that for elementary kids.
Naturally we couldn't wait until the weather warmed up so we could unleash the Green Machines outdoors. We lived on a pretty large block too so we could traverse much of the neighborhood without ever having to worry about violating the "don't go in the street" rule. Although there were a couple of times we would veer a little in the roadway just so we could turn around properly. The best thing about the turning around was hitting those levers just right in one of those big driveways to get the Green Machine to donut perfectly. It was a skill that took us no time at all to master.
I was very surprised to see that they still make Green Machines. They have streamlined the design a bit so it looks a bit sexier than the boxy styles that we had, but it's still the same at it's core. Not that it matters too much because you rarely see kids out there on them like you used to. With the lure of so much technology out there for them, outdoor activities for tots are slowly dying an agonizing death. Makes me want to bust out on a Green Machine just to show them how we used to do it. And I bet the newer ones are strong enough to even support someone my size.
