A series of essays….
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ALWAYS BE ENCOURAGED TO KEEP SWINGING HIGH UP INTO THE SKY! |
….as seen through my eyes!
By: Jacqueline E Hughes
Sitting on the deck, I was staring out into the distance while waiting to pick up our grandson for basketball practice. A cool breeze began to penetrate the warm, lazy Sunday afternoon. At about the same time, the younger of the two sisters living next door could barely be seen skipping through the openings of the massive broadleaved trees that separate and permeate our two backyards.
Before I could see her in motion, I could hear her on one of the chain swings her parents had installed under the branches of a sturdy oak tree years ago. In the time that we’ve owned our property, over six years now, I will always remember the sounds of those swings. With their eleven gauge pipe top rail and pipe beam swing hangers and clevis pendulums rusting a little bit more each year, I have taken comfort in them for all of this time.
By the time she reached just the right height, it was a rhythm of one long screech going backwards, one long screech going forward until she reached the pinnacle of her forward motion and the sound became a short series of heavy clangs, metal pipe on pipe type of clangs, until she floated backwards into one, long screech again. The repetitive sounds were mesmerizing.
Our little chant has always been, “WD-40 that thing!” But, we always knew how disappointed we would be if they ever did.
Every child earns the right to engage in this hypnotic state of floating in the air powered and strengthened by their own muscles and body movements. This offers them a chance at dreaming, hoping, plotting, and planning without any interruptions; without a care in the world. And, I’m pretty certain that the steady rhythm of clangs and screeches attributes to this spellbinding state of mind.
This seemingly mindless state of being while swinging aloft, then smoothly transitioning to a backwards momentum, and repeat, could be envied by most adults. If memory serves me well, I did a lot of thinking up there myself, legs bending backwards and forwards, pumping hard as I’d climb higher and higher on the sturdy metal swing set until I felt the momentum would take me up and over the top bar. If this happened, I thought I would either be flung from the wooden seat entirely, or the centrifugal force would keep me seated and able to swing for minutes longer until I was brave enough to do it again! Of course — I never tested these theories out.
Holding onto the chains for dear life, impressing metal links into small palms, my white canvas sneakers, the little blue ‘Keds’ label flapping from their rubber heals, would push into the fluffy, white clouds and blue summer sky with each upward swing. On the backwards swing, their gum soles would gently graze the indented ground, the gray gash formed by innumerable sets of small, braking feet. Once stopped, they would fly off with friends to the waiting seesaw, roundabout (merry-go-round), jungle gym, or hot metal slides to play.
Eventually, as a young parent, I learned never to underestimate the intelligence of a child. My own daughters played hard, learned quickly, and never failed to surprise us by soaking in the enormity of the complex world they lived in. Thinking back on the many times they spent swinging back and forth, eyes affixed to the sky, how the daydreams must have flowed within their subconscious world lulled by the clouds, birds singing, and repetitive movement.
Utilizing the solace the swing provided, I recall plotting all sorts of ideas regarding my future plans. I would become a ‘stewardess’ because of my desire to travel. (I had applied to United Airlines soon after my eighteen birthday.) Maybe the religious life was calling me and I’d become a missionary nun, clad in a white habit, and travel into the far corners of the world in order to help others. (That travel theme again!) What will my new friends be like after we moved from Terre Haute, Indiana, up to Three Rivers, Michigan? Maybe I will become a writer in the style of Ernest Hemingway and live my life telling stories to others about what I see and feel everywhere I go. I should become a photojournalist!
Would I ever be married? At the time, I didn’t think so because the life I foresaw for myself was going to be so busy and justifiably fulfilling in and of itself. I had a lot to accomplish and, I felt, very little time to do it all in.
Holding my own daughters in my arms for the first time convinced me that I truly had taken the right path in this life. I had so much to offer them; the love of travel, reading books, making-up stories, and writing poetry among them. But, most of all, we allowed them to swing into the clouds themselves and discover who they were and how they would fit into this world as they were growing up. A daily dose of love, imagination, and daydreaming will take a child on a daily journey into that wonderful world of discovery.
As I continued to sit in the soft breeze and listen to the screeches and clangs of the swing next door, I realized that this young lady had a lot of dreaming to do! After all, she’d been climbing up into the sky and back down again for quite some time already. I was grateful to her for this because it induced memories from within me that I hadn’t explored for a very long time. She made me realize that no matter what age we achieve, we should never stop filling our minds with new hopes and dreams for the future. We must always be encouraged to keep swinging high up into the sky! We all deserve it.
Life is a noisy backyard swing that we occupy for as long as possible before passing it down to our own children and grandchildren. The swing is a booster shot meant to protect and carry each generation into their own future by way of soaring dreams that may or may not be fulfilled; grand avenues to explore and discover what is possible. After all, even our dreams should remain as flexible and potent as our personal desires — no matter how old we are.
Copyright © 2021 by Jacqueline E Hughes
All rights reserved
