Swings

{Corporation Beach - Dennis, MA}

I swung on this swings every summer of my childhood. Once you swing high enough, you can see the Cape Cod Bay over the grasses and prickly bushes. If it's a clear day, you can see the dunes on the other side of the bay and Provincetown at the very tip top of the Cape. I remember swinging here with my brother and cousins - each of us trying to swing higher than the other. 

It was a very serious competition.

I love visiting this place in the winter. The serenity that encompasses this little strip of seashore during the off-season is hard to imagine on the simmering days of July and August. The summer months have become seemingly more crowded than the summers of my childhood. The swings are always crowded, the beach is full to the brim with little space between chairs and umbrellas. 

But on this grey, wintry day, this place was so peaceful. There were some retirees taking an afternoon stroll, a man playing fetch with his dog, and people like me just taking in the muted beauty. I sat on these swings, remembering the happy evenings I so often spent here. I must have looked like a complete loon smiling to myself on the swing seat that does not accommodate my derrière as easily as it used to. But it's good for the soul to spend time at your happy place every so often. So many corners of this beach are filled with memories, but my afternoon on the swing set made me remember the childish, innocent and carefree feelings that are so easy to forget, but remain somewhere deep inside us.