And don't we just love to go forwards, from our earliest beginnings, as a baby loves to move around in a self-propelled seat on wheels to our fastest jets, rocketing themselves far beyond our atmosphere, into other dimensions.
One of our greatest ever travellers, according to a friend of mine, Neil Armstrong, the first man to step on to the moon's surface, July 1969, with Buzz Aldrin and with Michael Collins holding the fort in the Command Module.
From earliest Caveman, with his wheel around the time 3500 BC, to the earliest recorded type of a wheel made from wood, known to have existed over 5,350 years ago, to our modern light and speedy Mountain bike, mankind has been transfixed by the idea of self-motion. And the very notion of self-motion delighted with the concept of speed, overtaking ourselves, going forward and faster with the passing years and decades.
The bicycle brought about huge economic and social change, for our gene pool, for wealth, health and exercise, female emancipation for independence, mobility and personal freedom; the Safety Bicycle introduced the idea of "rational dress" and sounded the death knell for outlandish fashion.
A whole industry for design, economic opportunity, fashion, self-propulsion, self-expression and liberty changed the world and our vision of the possibilities available to all.
Our great grandparents would be astonished by our way of life today and our grandparents too. What vast changes they saw in their lives.
I imagine they would be overwhelmed by the changes brought about by inventions and industry of the late 19th century and the entirety of the 20th century?
Daisy
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