Up in a 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)

I loved swings as a child. I still do. there is something relaxing about the way you're flying back and forth through the air. They proved many a time to be a fantastic place for me to sit and reflect. I could sit on a swing and just think for hours.

Of course, it's not always so calm. This past summer, a group of my coworkers and I had the chance to spend some time on a playground while waiting to see a floor-run. One of my friends challenged me to a swing competition. It wasn't much of a contest :-) HAHA

On Monday's, I work at the Foundation's original kindy. My group has 8 kids going to school next year (6-7-year-olds) and 18 3-year-olds, so we have the "little" playground area. There are two swings where I typically hang out: supervising turn taking and lots of pushing, which, btw... is very strange because I can't count like I grew up doing and still do when pushing any kids outside of work. Dad always counted in Hungarian so that's what I associate with swinging... not allowed in this setting -- ironic. A couple of weeks ago (OK, two to be exact), as I was standing there pushing kids, I was reminded of the awesome school playground in the village where my grandparents used to live. As I was lamenting over the fact that I wouldn't ever be there again, I had no idea that the next day I would be looking at flights to go back for my grandma's funeral. Now I may have the chance to swing there again. Maybe I'll volunteer to take my cousins ...

Just as long as they leave me a swing!