Flying Mom's Umbrella
This little fun FLYING story is for children and anyone young at heart.
Flying without a plane??? "impossible" you say. Well...if you are about 8 years old with an unending imagination, anything is possible.
I like storytelling, I can remember my aunts and grandma telling stories to me when I was a little girl. Now it is my turn to tell stories to my little grandchildren and I love it and my grandchildren like my storytelling even more.
So...this story is about the time I decided to fly using my mom's navy blue silk umbrella as my airplane.
Trust me, it is totally possible IF you have the imagination of a skinny, little, red-headed, freckled-faced, eight-year-old Norwegian girl with the name of Anne Grete.
That's all it took for this little girl to come up with the idea of flying. Mamma had a beautiful navy blue and white silk umbrella...I thought to myself: "Maybe I could borrow it for just a little while"?
Flying could be very possible IF your mom's navy blue and white, silk umbrella was sitting there doing nothing completely ready for a flight - DON'T YOU THINK SO TOO?
I had had an intense interest in flying a plane since I was very little - I even dreamt about it. I had many dreams about flying without a plane using my legs to maneuver around up in the sky. I would stand at the top of a hill ready for take-off and in my dreams, I did take off to the skies.
Added to my desire for flying increased after I looked
at the fireflies my friends and I had caught and put into a glass jar a while back... As I watched the fireflies flying around in the jar - it made me think even more SERIOUSLY about flying...
Fireflies
Oh, you want to try it too? Remember all you'll need is a "bumpershoot") and it probably should be a navy blue one with white stripes... What is a bumpershoot anyway?
A few years ago when I lived in Chicago, The Windy City, I learned that "bumpershoot" is another word for umbrella. That information is free. But wait, before you try an "umbrella plane", read my story here...
Growing up on a farm in Norway was and still is quite different than living in the city. We had many farm animals, such as sheep, cows, pigs, chickens, and horses. I loved all the animals we had on our farm.
Anna, the Horse
But, Anna, my horse, Polly and Penny, my pet chickens, and Daisy, the dog, were my favorites.
There were kids on the farms around us, so I had plenty of friends to play with. We had wide-open spaces where we could run and play games.
Hiding places were plentiful in
the woods around us where we would play Cowboys and Indians,
and Hide and Go Seek.
We had "secret spots" where we picked sweet, wild strawberries, and a huge area where delicious wild raspberries grew.
This was heaven for little kids who loved sweets. We frequently came home with blue teeth; a blue tongue and of course blue fingers, from eating wild blueberries.
My dad had built a dollhouse for me, where we did a lot of "cooking". Our specialty was mud pies and "cakes" decorated with yellow dandelions and pink clover and green leaves. yummy!
Dressed up in mom's old dresses with purple flowers, orange stripes, and red polka dots, and wide-brimmed hats with feathers and buttons, we held "dinner parties" and "birthday celebrations".
My little friends and I had plenty of imagination and were constantly coming up with new things to do. Sometimes we got into trouble.
This flying story actually began on a stormy and rainy day when mom took me along shopping. I saw a lady in a green raincoat and red boots trying to hold on to her bright red umbrella. It seemed as if the wind would lift her into the air. I wondered if it would? Maybe she would fly away?
If I was going to fly I would have to get up on something high so I could jump off something. I began thinking very hard...and there it was...Dad's woodshed. Y E S, a perfect take-off spot for me.
OH YES, if only I could get on the roof of that woodshed I would be in business...!!!!
I found some wooden boxes and stacked them on top of each other. I struggled, while I climbed up thinking out loud, fearlessly,
"YESSS, I Can Do This".
Finally, I was on the roof. Great! ... OPS - the boxes tumbled down. "Well, I wouldn't need them anymore, since I would fly off the roof.".
SOON, so soon, I would be flying! - I could hardly wait.
The Norway sky was beautiful bright blue with a few whitish clouds hanging up there with the warm sun brightly shining on the deep blue fjord that sparkled as if it had been sprinkled with diamonds.
Mountain Top View of Isfjorden
I noticed birds everywhere chirping and flapping their wings. "If birds can fly, so could I", I thought". I pictured myself flying amongst the clouds while holding on to mamma's umbrella.
What fun I would have flying my plane.
How exciting! I looked around, OH NO, it was really far down to the ground. I got scared AND had a sick feeling in my stomach. NOW WHAT?
It had been easy climbing up - but "jumping-off-the-roof" would be a lot harder. I no longer felt brave - just scared. I called out, "Dad, Mom, HELP!! I want to get down, NOW. My heart was thumping! What would I do?
But, no one heard my cry for help.
My horse, Anna, was peacefully eating the juicy, green grass in meadow.
Norwegian Fjordhorse.
Daisy, the dog was looking at me barking with approval.
Penny and Nelly, my favorite chickens were nipping and picking at whatever goodies they could find to eat around the yard. Daisy just wagged her tail. I knew they surely couldn't help me. What would I do?
My problem was HUGE, I needed to get down from that roof!!I called out Mamma! Pappa! But, they could not hear me.
Finally - I had enough courage...I opened mom's umbrella and thought about how much fun it would be flying around in the sky over the mountaintops looking at people and everything from "UP THERE IN THE SKY".
"Sure I would be fine???".
Sooo...
All of a sudden...
I - - - J U M P E D!
OH NO!!! "Umbrella-flying" came to a screeching halt when my knees hit the ground. OUCH-OUCH - PAIN!.
I screamed mom and dad came running. They called, What happened?
Mom's beautiful, navy blue and white silk umbrella was history and I ended up with bloody knees and a soar "SEAT OF WISDOM" so I would remember to ask my parents for permission before I would plan another daring adventure.
What is the moral of this story????????
Do not use other people's things without asking first.. and... If you want to fly - try a plane, not an umbrella. he he.
Going for a ride with a horse and buggy would be a lot safer and bunches of fun too.
Going for a Ride with a Horse and Buggy
Photo by Martin Tanner
I hope you have as much fun reading my flying story as I had "winging" it.
COMING SOON...Children's stories about growing up on a farm in Norway, the land of the Vikings, and the Midnight Sun. You will find stories s.a. "The Mystery of Scary Red Eyes in the Mountain Cabin" and...
"The Doll Dress", "Sledding down Wild Mountains", "Ann's Blueberry Factory", "The Fox-Cage Doll House", "Cardboard Shoes, "The Secret House", "Tante's Cherryberry Tree", "Green Pancakes", and more. What fun for children to read, but maybe grown-ups will enjoy the stories as well.
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