A Monkey at the wheel －ハンドルにいる猿－

 “Working for peanuts is all very fine,

But I can show you a better time –

Baby, you can drive my car.”

From the Beatles song, “Drive my car”

 

My son loves vehicles.  So we had a great time in a huge park in Sapporo called “Sato Land”.  There was a horse and cart, a car made to look and sound like a train, and odd cycles. 

We spent about two hours cycling around the park on a cycle with three seats.  I sat in a seat at the back which had a set of pedals.  My wife sat next to me in the back at a seat which had both pedals and the steering wheel.  My son sat in the front seat without pedals. 

Then, when we got out of sight of the park staff, my son sat in the driver’s seat, steering the cycle.  In case of accidents, my wife ran behind the cycle, ready to pull us to a stop if my son steered us into danger. 

Although I was just pedaling, I really enjoyed the odd cycle.  It had been years since I had been on a bicycle.  There is a wonderful sense of freedom when you feel the wind rushing past your face. 

Despite my son turning the wheel very sharply at corners and making it feel like the cycle was about to tip over, we avoided any disasters.  I did have one problem, though.  My right knee was sticking out of the cycle, while my left knee was in the shade created by the driver next to me.  So I somehow managed to suffer sunburn on just one knee.  As I teach English in my shorts with one white knee and one bright pink knee, it probably looks a little strange.

Vocabulary:

to work for peanuts – to work for practically no money