Family Hike

We went on a hike with the kids in the park behind our house yesterday. Zack took us to see this swing he and his friends found... You have to go down a steep path, cross some boards covering a sticky sulfur smelling primordial ooze... and end up on the other side, in a clearing where a big oak tree juts out over a hillside... Some brave soul climbed up there and tied a huge rope swing in the tree, and when the kids swing on it, they go way out over the clearing. Watching them and their antics, trying to get on the swing were hilarious. Zack (aka Evil Kenevil) was the bravest, climbing in from the tree and pushing off. The other kids just got on from the bottom of the clearing and were pushed...

I remember loving to swing when I was a kid. Megan especially loves it. She had found a swing on the hillside at our other house in a place she called "The Secret Spot". Someone cut that one down. I never went cause Pascual said the hill was very steep and difficult to climb. I am no climber... The kids said on that one, you felt like you were flying.

My friend Karen has a swing in her back yard that does that too... One time at a get together at her house, we all got on the swing and she photographed us.. I have a great photo of me on it laughing, in a dress, and it did feel like flying! I had forgotten that wierd sick queasy feeling you get when the ground is rushing under you and you toss your head back and scream from deep down in your gut. The pure thrill of it is exhilirating! I stopped filming right at the end as he screamed... but if you listen you can catch a little bit of it before the clip stops... Next time we are going to take some snacks, maybe a little picnic and hang out there a bit longer... It was so fun!