Swinging On A Swing-Thoughts

fmdog44

fmdog44

Well-known Member
Location
Houston, Texas
I saw some kids and adults on swings at a near by park this morning. Later, reflected back to many tears go and recalled how soothing swinging on a swing was for me. I don't think I'm alone in that feeling. Just sitting on a swing is relaxing and is good for reflections and swinging slow is soothing and swinging fast and high is connected with the dreams/desire to escape. Who doesn't like to swing.... at any age?
 

I love to swing, but those swing seats at the playground play hell with my derriere. They're "slings" instead of "seats" and I know they're tremendously safer than the wooden or metal swing seats we grew up with, but they're very uncomfortable to me.

Speaking of the "old" seats, remember getting beaned with one of those?

Remember jumping from the swing at the highest point of the arc? We'd have contests to see who could jump from the highest. I nagged the neighbor boy to jump and SNAP! there went his arm when he landed. That's OK, he got back at me one Christmas day when he shot me in the forehead with his new Red Ryder BB rifle.
 
I remember swinging. The photo shows me at the age of 5 on the first swing my dad put up for me. After that they bought me one with a built in see- saw and bars on the side for climbing.
My uncle had the type that had a wooden base with chairs on both sides. It rocked back and forth. The older members of the family usually used that one.swing.JPG
 

Nothing beat or compared to a homemade swing set up high.

I grew up with one, and remember falling asleep while swinging... quiet Sunday morning, the cool spring air, the suns heat gently warming me.

Also used to love swinging high and then closing my eyes... used to take your breath away and give you butterflies in your tummy.
 
Years ago? I’m a true swinger and swing whenever or wherever I can. It’s fun. It’s relaxing. It helps bring the child out in us. Last time I swung in a swing was last Autumn. We have them in many of the parks we visit to take our dogs for a walk and I have no shame in using them no matter what age I am.
My husband wants to get a side by side swing for our veranda so we can swing and watch sunsets together.
 
My thoughts took me to that old Bing Crosby standard, "Swinging on a Star." It was more of my parents generation than mine, but I think I heard that song innumerable times as a kid growing up, and all the animal references made it stick in my mind...
image.jpeg
 
My generation as well Fyrefox. I saw this when it first came out when I as almost a teenager. I remember every word of that song. From the movie, The Bells of St. Mary's with Bing Crosby, Ingrid Bergman and Barry Fitzgerald.
 
Never really did the normal swing thing
Wasn't around 'em much

But

Me and Bart did build one

around age 10, I think

wrote a little story on it;

Just a simple rope hung from a beam between two huge fir trees.
We built a platform.
We swung way out over a deep ravine, and back to the platform.

Then we put our heads together and figured we’d rake in vast amounts of money by charging admission to our ‘swing of death’.
We made a huge sign.
EXPERIENCE THE SWING OF DEATH!
TWO SWINGS FOR ONLY 25 CENTS
Only thing is, Bart lived at the end of the road, so the only potential customer would be Mr Harlon.
It was my first lesson in business.

Anyway, we got bored with the swing of death, and decided a taller platform…..the swing of the afterlife, was needed.

Bart, since it was his place, was first.

What we hadn’t considered was the wear of the rope on the beam.
Bart did his customary salutation ‘G-G-G-Geronimo-o-o-o’, (Bart had a stutter) and off and away he went
….only he didn’t make the return trip.
In an elongated flash of a second or two, Bart remained suspended,
twirling to face me, the rope descending into a heap on his shoulders.
His open mouth and furrowed brow held the expression of bewilderment and fear.
Then he twirled toward oblivion, floating down the ravine.
The last thing I saw was the little knot between his ankles still clutching the rope,
while he filled the ravine with stuttering cries of anguish……sh-sh-sh-shiiiiiiiiiiit.

The blackberry patch was his salvation, sorta.
 
As I recall from my playground days, teeter-totters were more fun than the average swing, except when it rained. After a good rain, the ground below the swing, which had been scooped out by scraping feet, would be filled with water, making jump landings more interesting (i.e., who could jump out on the upswing and not land in the river of death and dishonor.
 
fmdog44 said:
I saw some kids and adults on swings at a near by park this morning. Later, reflected back to many tears go and recalled how soothing swinging on a swing was for me. I don't think I'm alone in that feeling. Just sitting on a swing is relaxing and is good for reflections and swinging slow is soothing and swinging fast and high is connected with the dreams/desire to escape. Who doesn't like to swing.... at any age?
Click to expand...
Love...love to swing...I swung as a child from a huge maple tree in the evening trying to reach for the stars...as an adult I swung a tad intoxicated on a swing at my daughter's cottage laughing my fool head off...and of course sober many times just feeling happy!
 
Jeweltea said:
Would love to have one like this if I had a nice porch. Growing up my dad built a really tall swing in our side yard...at least it seemed tall then.
Click to expand...
Thinking back to where I grew up (small town central IL), most of the houses on our street had a porch with a swing that hung from the porch ceiling. They got used a lot summer months, in the evening and on weekends. People would sit on the porch and wave at you as your rode by, A number of these were people who my dad asked to watch and see if I was getting into trouble or being stupid with my scoot. I only learned this at his funeral. The porch swing played a not-insignificant role in the upbringing of kids in my hometown in many other ways.
 
I delighted my little grandson recently. His dad was pushing him on the little kid swing and I was in the next swing, a big kid swing, swinging away. I love the feeling and I always hear my own little kid voice in my head yelling "Higher, Daddy, higher, I want to kick the leaves."
 
Love swings..when we rebuilt last year I had swings inherited from my parents' house fitted on the back verandah. Also two delightful rocking chairs!
 

You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top