by Susan Ternyey, Nov 2025
When I go wheelin’ ’round, my Big Wheels are in back, the power behind my motion, while the little wheels in front steer my course.
For some, the Big Wheels are the Big Cheeses, whether aged or new. May they bring good taste to the fore, and after providing sustenance.
It’s a Big Wheel that keeps “Proud Mary” powering upstream, despite the current.
It may be a Big Wheel that keeps kids entertained, as long as they have management keeping them from rolling into dangerous situations.
AI says they are beneficial for “improved physical and cognitive development [for the young] . . . increased stability and exercise” for adults. Adults? That’s a picture: an adult crouching cramped on a kid’s Big Wheel trike! But wait . . . there are adult-size Big Wheels. No kidding, kids.
This lead me down the proverbial research rabbit hole–hopefully one befitting a Big Wheel.
AI continues, they provide “balance, coordination, motor skills . . . greater stability . . . [a] low impact workout” and a boost to confidence. All highly suggestive to my pun-ny, meta metaphorical mind, which may tend to wander in an Alice-like way.
In this way, we roll into adult trikes, some of which are 2-seaters, beneficial in at least a couple ways . . . you can pause to think on that.
My big wheels back my 4-wheeler (not a 5th wheeler, as my fumble finger had to be corrected), that is, my wheelchair. Reference to Big Wheels and other wheels brings up “adventure” and “play”, which ideas further tempt me to play around, toy with related terms.
“Big Wheel” is an adventure movie, a marvelous(?) Marvel comic character (is he, in fact, comic-al?), and the thrilling Ferris Wheel at the Fair or amusing park, where it could also be called the Giant Wheel, or an Observation Wheel, for obvious reasons.
Wheels are for wheeling around, maybe to impress oneself or others, or to getaway for a vacation, or from a criminal activity–may it only be in the movies, or not even there, lest some be motivated to try that cycle which spirals down to destruction.
A driver might be called a Wheelman, whether steering a car, a company, or a ship, where he stands at the helm, and like a trusted chauffeur, sees that his passengers, those who ride along with him, arrive safely at their best intended, well thought through, wise destination.
If one is game, one might spin the Wheel of Fortune, and come out a winner. But better to play a game of skill than of chance–not necessarily driving hard on the fast track, but the steady pedal that pushes one in a competition against ones’ self and reaches for a finish that is the award of a purposeful, meaningful life.
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