Playtime in the Park

When was the last time you went into a public park to play? Were you a kid? Or did you have your child in tow?

I still go to the park to play, even though I'm a single, childless 30-year-old woman. The swings are my favorite. I only go after dark, after the children are gone, though. On the swings, going higher and higher, I think about work, I think about my friends, my love life, etc. It's mindless but exhilarating in a way that clears the mind. Quite therapeutic, actually.

I can barely squeeze onto the slide, and there is no point in going on the seesaw when I'm alone. I had to give up on the jungle gym, because I'm simply too big to crawl into it. It's one of the round ones that swivel.

Aside from these obvious amusements, I also practice dance steps in the park. The Viennese waltz, Greek hasapiko, Irish sean nos, any kind of dance, really. I can dance around the swings, which help maintain a nice oval LOD (line of dance) for the Viennese waltz.

It would be so much fun to go on the seesaw and the swings with a date. It wouldn't be romantic like dancing in Central Park with Fred Astaire, but then I'm not Cyd Charisse. It's funny how I'm now old enough to be a kid again, except that it's somehow better to play as a grownup, because I have the best of both worlds. Even better would be playing in the park by daylight, as the proud parent of a little tyke.