Swing time

 This is a little child who comes to play in the park near my house. This is the sight that greets me whenever I see her. One pigtail escaping from the tightly made braid folded into a prim little plait with red ribbons. Pinafore slightly askew. Socks drooping, shoes dusty and her red checkered shirt doing nothing to hold the freedom of her movements as she gleefully shouts and plays on the swing.

 Her loose hair with its red ribbon flying in the wind looks like a little act of rebellion, wresting from the day all the free time that she has lost, running from her home to school and back. It is such a luxury for kids to have this kind of time. The Time to do nothing. As Bill Watterson ( creator Of Calvin and Hobbes) puts it, "The biggest gift my parents gave me was a lot of time. There was never a sense that I should be doing something else. That kind of time is just indispensable. It's not a luxury, it's an absolute requirement. You've got to mess around - it's the only way to figure stuff out."

Here's to the little kid having fun. A real ' let one's hair down' after all the disciplining, concentrating and learning at school.