The Swing

How do you like to go up in a swing?
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!


Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
Rivers and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside--

Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown -
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!
~Robert Louis Stevenson, "The Swing"

It has always been a goal of mine to build a good old-fashioned tree swing for our girls. But when we first moved into our house about seven years ago, hubs grandmother sweetly gifted to the children a brand new swing set complete with three little swings, a slide, and other delightful attractions fitting for an eight, three, and two year old. How they loved that swing set! I have photos of the three of them swinging, sliding, and dangling from it - those girls with their precious little hands, feet, and baby faces.

That same swing set, though once shiny, new, and exciting - has sat pretty much neglected for the last year or so. It has been showing signs of it's age for quite

The old swing set was simply forgotten...

a while, with it's rust and cracked plastic here and there...and it has shrunk significantly, it seems. With the baby of the family now nine years old, and my eldest being fifteen, the old swing set was simply forgotten along with Sesame Street and their once beloved Dr. Seuss books.

So this last weekend while the girls were away helping their grandfather make and sell kettle corn at a local event, hubs dismantled that old, rusty, memory laden swing set. In it's place he built the beautiful tree swing that I planned for the children many years ago. The children were thrilled and they've been having a blast with it...and I'm enjoying watching them play. I have a perfect view of the swing from our dining table, and well - my heart just swells knowing that such a simple, old-time play thing can bring them such delight. I believe Robert Louis Stevenson had it right when he said swinging was the "pleasantest thing ever a child can do"!


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