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I have a confession: this evening I went swinging.
Photo Credit: http://www.glogster.com
I’ve no excuses and I’m not sorry..
They’d put in a new swing set in the park, one big enough for a small adult to use.
It’s probably not allowed. And no sane adult would try it during the day, when all the kids are about.
But at nine in the evening, the kids are all in bed. There was me, there was the tall Indian teenager with his little Chinese girl-friend, there was a career woman in her thirties, and three chatting grandmas, And there was the swing set, waiting ….
I did my usual brisk-walk around the edges of the park, sneaking a peek at the Indian boy and the Chinese girl, side by side, feet moving up then down, heads flung back. Young love, I thought enviously before soldiering on with lap three.
After lap five I noticed the young couple were gone. It was just one pair of pumping legs and arms now, reaching towards the overhanging tree branches, touching earth, pushing off again. It was the career lady in her thirties, her white sneakers pointing up, then down, then up again.
When I’ve finished my tenth lap, I told myself. When no one’s watching.
But of course, the grandmas were still out. I circled the park once more, hoping they’d go home. They didn’t. And suddenly the temptation was just too much.
I don’t give a damn what those old biddies think, I told myself.
I stepped up onto the rubberized play area and clanked the chain of one of the swings. I sat on the other one. I pushed off. And I was in heaven!
I must have pushed and flown and kicked and floated up at least a hundred times before I stopped. No, it didn’t feel like I was five again or even fifteen. But I did feel easy. I did feel free. As if all my burdens were lifted off me, if only for a few minutes.
I can’t remember when I was last on a swing. I won’t forget to get on one regularly now. Now we’ve a new swing set in the park.
When did you last swing free? What did it feel like?
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