Swingin' in the Summer Breeze

Life was just a tire swing.

'Jambalaya' was the only song I could sing.

Blackberry pickin' eatin' fried chicken

And I never knew a thing about pain.

Life was just a tire swing.
Jimmy Buffett

Ahhh....to be a kid once again....just a swingin in the breeze.

While time just stands still.

All is good with the world

when you're swingin' on a tire swing right?

When I was a kid we had one.  It hung from a large old oak tree in our front yard.  It was quite the attraction at our house.  We would swing like mad during the hot summer days, higher and higher we climbed with each shove.  My brothers and I could sometimes be found climbing the nautical ropes that the tire hung from about 25 feet in the air.

(Well that never pleased my mother!)

The stunts that could entertain a group of neighborhood kids during our daredevil shows.  Oooohing and ahhhing with each foot climbed, it was enough to take your breath away while you sipped your cup of red Koolaid.

The death-defying tailspin in which I would sit in the tire center and my brother would spin me at a rate of 50, yes 50 miles per hour folks....he,he. 
Okay it might of been 10 mph!

Twirling round and round, I would flip my head back to stare at the sky through the tree's canopy and my long hair would sometimes drag through the dirt...and I didn't pay any mind to it either.  That dirt washed out with each evening's bath.

Oh, we were never bored.  If you admitted to that, your mother made sure you had something to do. When you were bored you thought up stunts or shows with the neighborhood kids.  When you were sad you headed to the tire swing to do some thinking.  It was always home base too.  I often wondered where my brother hid that he was so quick to be waiting on that tire swing huming a tune when we arrived. 

We had a wood slat swing out back too.  For some reason that one just wasn't as popular though.  On the tire swing you could pile a handful of kids....ours was from a very large truck so it was quite big.

Life seemed so much simpler then.  Kids now are so interested in things with batteries and plugs. 

We didn't worry about that.  On a summer's morning you headed out the door as fast as you could throw your tennies on to meet up with the local kids in the field or fort and you planned your day from there.  The swing is long gone at my parents house and I will someday have to search through their pictures for an afternoon of my childhood of my brothers and I all piled on that old swing. 

My son found the joy of a tire swing while at his uncles and what a joy a summer afternoon could be.....It brought back a flood of wonderful childhood memories for me when I saw the fun he was having just swaying in the breeze!
Oh, the things we will remember!

Now onto an important announcement on the winner of the KINDRED SPIRITS SIGN GIVEAWAY....

I'm sorry I'm getting this up so very late, we had company this evening and well you know how it goes when you start talking about good times with loved ones....the hours get away from you!

I want to start out by saying how much I enjoyed the stories of your Kindred Spirits you have each found.  They were truly inspiring stories of women starting their family and getting support from a K.S. from across the country.  The grandmother one had never met, the women who have sent words of encouragement, support, gifts, money and prayers to one another.  Even the ones who have met one another and gained a family member or friend in person!  It makes you know the world is a much warmer place with folks like that around, even if you cannot physically sit with them!   Thank you to those of you who put a link on your blogs too.

After reading all the comments it would have been difficult to pick just one since I enjoyed each story told.  I also tallied up the commentors, posters, and customers adding to the grand total of entries...so I use the random number generator.  And do you know what happened?  It chose a single digit number...I haven't seen this before but it chose #2.........out of 95 entries!

Congratulations to Kathleen Grace

You have won the Kindred Spirits Sign....

Check out her adorable blog for inspiration and good ideas...

who knows you may find another Kindred Spirit there!

Thank you all for your entries and sharing your beautiful stories.

As usual, I wish that I could give each and everyone who comments here a sign of their own...but I can't, sorry!   But, if you are still interested in this sign for yourself or as a gift for your Kindred Spirits I will be extending a bonus discount of 10% off to those of you who took the time to comment and customers who have ordered this year.

I will be listing it in the Mercantile in the coming days so when placing your order let me know that you were a commentor and your profile name so I can adjust the invoice.

Have a great week!

Take care,

Dee