close your eyes and ~

 I am now 70 years old.  Many times in my life I've heard the expression, been given the suggestion to close my eyes and _________.  Usually the blank would be ...imagine you are _____ and about to enter ___________.   [and then you are asked to describe the ideas that came to mind. 

 Today I overheard, "Close your eyes and pretend you are ten years old, on your bike.  Where are you going?  What will your adventure be?"

 But when I close my eyes these days, I immediately lose my balance and lean or fall to my left side.  So I try not to close my eyes unless I'm safely seated or lying down. 

 I do, however, have a reasonable imagination, so I can pretend to be ten years old and in fourth grade (Mrs. Schmidt's class).   I LOVE to read, so I would have a book or two in my bicycle basket, and be riding up the long driveway of the farm I live on, around the shed, down toward Grandma's house, but then take a turn to park my bike near the creek bridge.  

From there I'd look around to be sure no one was seeing me, hide my bike behind shrubbery, grab one of my books, and walk down to the end of the little peninsula there, keeping an eye out for the 'turtle log' (one particular log where my brothers and I often spied one or two turtles hanging out), and then to my favorite reading spot near the end of the peninsula. 

I find myself wondering now how long that peninsula truly was.  The beautiful farmland I grew up on has long since been developed with several commercial properties (medical office buildings, a Hilton Inn, Home Depot, YUCK).  The little one-lane creek bridge is long gone, replaced with a wider stronger bridge that surely overtook a fair share of the peninsula I recall. 

...

I'll stop here, but will ask you what comes to your mind as I ask you to "Close your eyes and pretend you are ten years old, on your bike.  Where are you going?  What will your adventure be?"