Week 34: Myers Manx

I officially welcome the first dune buggy to Daddy's Tiny Cars, a lil' replica of a Myers Manx. Consider it my offering to warm and dry weather.

Rain has been falling for nearly two weeks where I live in Ohio (as well as elsewhere in the U.S. as many communities wrestle with flooding rivers), and while the temperature had warmed, it is down to chilly again.

My kids don't really mind the rain, but walking on the lawn right now is like  walking on a giant sponge, and sooner or later the mud will take its toll charge of one rain boot, leaving my four year old yelling for help while balancing on one leg, white-socked foot swaying over the muck.

Not that the rain boots help - socks always come back into the house wet and muddy, even if not pulled off by the mud. The truth is, rain boots for kids aren't designed to protect against water. They are strictly designed to increase the cute factor of toddlers. Purely for show.

I have matured over the years to accept puddle splashing. Why matured instead of grown more youthful? Because I don't want to splash in them myself (that would be growing more youthful), but I have grown to understand that if children are physically able, then they are incapable of not splashing in a puddle. 

I move out of the way and let it be, sometimes even smiling. (A forced smile is nonetheless a smile.)

So as I write this the rain splashes outside, a toy crashes inside, and I think of warm sand, 70s reverb beach music and a fast little dune buggy cresting a hill.

Photo of my summertime ride courtesy of Phil Pekarcik.

This car part of the 2010 Hot Wheels Race World collection.

Trivia: Steve McQueen drove a modified Myers Manx with co-star Faye Dunaway in one of my all-time favorite movies, 1968's Thomas Crown Affair. The original script allegedly called for a Jeep in the scene but was changed to a Myers Manx at McQueen's urging.