Jul. 01, 2007 - 21:00 MDT

LIKE A PENDULUM DO

In demand to the max in my young life were the swings on the school playground. Twisting the chains as tight as I could and then letting go to spin until I was dizzy. Or just idly rocking back and forth, such a lulling thing it was. And then when I desired excitement, to swing high and jump out when I thought I dared. That rush of air and throbbing of heart as the transition was made from swing to earth. I enjoyed the whole schmear.

Then there were the pleasant idle days of summer when I would spend time in a porch swing with a friend. We would read books, sometimes attempt to color with crayons on that unstable platform, or try to excite each other's imagination with tales of derring do. Play games and such.

But there was a Maple type tree across our street where my friend lived. Took an effort to grab a lower limb and get up there. In fact Billy finally made a small ladder which would allow us to get to that limb. It had a rope attached and the last one up would pull the ladder up. Oh we were safe, heh, safe from everyone in the world who was as short as we were.

We each had a favorite limb, most of which allowed one to sit back in comfort. My limb was a rather slender limb (it would bear my weight okay) that was comfortable but would sway back and forth, up and down depending on how the breeze blew.

We had a bucket with a rope on it which we used to hoist goodies up into the tree. We were so very organized, at least we thought so.

Occasionally it was neat on going to a friends house and find he wasn't home. I'd ask permission to use the porch swing or glider and promise to behave. Often I'd be let do that. I'd figure out a way to keep it going, one place I'd use a baseball bat to push off from a wall to keep the swing going while I layed back dreaming the impossible dream.

I still do that in our swing out back. A warm day, in the shade, swing gently to and fro I do love to do LIKE A PENDULUM DO . . . . . . . . . . .

Blog