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!

I'm watching the MythBusters try to swing a 360-degree arc around a normal chain swingset, of the type found in playgrounds everywhere, and I'm laughing at the fact that this is their goal, and not how far you can jump when you leap off at the top of the normal arc.

Leaping off was always my favorite part of swinging, just as the second or two of zero gravity at the top of the takeoff run is my favorite part of plane trips. That tickling sensation in the pit of the stomach, that surge of adrenaline as you soar through the air – it's the closest a child can come to being Superman.

Up in the air and over the wall,
'Til I can see so wide –
Rivers and trees and flowers and all
Over the countryside.

I've been swinging on chains of sleep lately, spending more time napping and reading in bed than is truly healthy, but my body is demanding it, and as I work from home, I'm in position to indulge myself. My brain, unfortunately is far too sluggish as a result, and while I'm having vivid dreams, I haven't the focus to translate them to page or screen, yet. Still things are percolating, ideas are brewing.

The peaks and troughs of my sleep pattern are actually sort of soothing, and the dogs love that I'm stationery and in a soft place. Also, my wrists are enjoying the fact that I'm not spending so much time at the keyboard. I just hope this cycle breaks soon, because it's nice for a while, but then it gets boring.

'Til I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roofs so brown.
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down.*

*The Swing, by Robert Louis Stevenson

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CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Swingsets by Melissa Bartell is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.