Best. Swing. Ever!

[osprey_archer]

Today we wound halfway up the mountains into Izmit, stopping at last at a campsite by a raging stream. We clambered down to the water, relaxed, and were about to leave when just up the slope we saw a father showing his kids the most amazing swing: hanging from a high, high tree branch and swinging out over the ravine.

"Oooooooooh," said I, wistfully.

"You should go on it!" said our hostess.

"And kick them off?"

"They'll be so pleased to meet an American! Right when they got out of the car, they were saying 'I love you,' weren't they?"

"Maybe that's the only English they know?"

She was dragging me up the bank.

And, actually, they seemed agreeable enough. (They were camping there, they had the rest of the weekend to swing.) I got on the swing, the father gave me a push, I swung over the creek and back. Our hostess cried, "Do it again!" and I kicked off to go -

Except of course the nice Turkish father didn't understand her, had already grabbed the swing rope, and my momentum dragged him halfway down the ravine.

Fortunately nothing but my sense of mortification was injured.

We went a bit farther up the mountain, and then doubled back down the same road. This time the swing was free, so I gave it another go.

Comments

[asakiyume.livejournal.com]

Wow, the landscape looks so similar to here in that picture! And you have the most amazing princess-golden hair streaming out behind you!

And those sorts of swings are a blast. There was one over a stream in England when we lived there, and another off the side of a hill/mountain, that the kids loved to swing on.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Turkey's on about the same latitude as Virginia and Pennsylvania, so no wonder about the foliage. (Somehow I always assumed it was farther south and more arid than that.)

And I've spent ages growing out my hair purely so it would look splendid in photographs like this. :)

off the side of a hill/mountain

That must have been the most amazing swing ever.

[bogwitch64.livejournal.com]

(http://www.tilazone.com/clipart/glitter.asp)

So much fun!!!

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

It is!

[entwashian.livejournal.com]

JFC, I would not trust that swing! :X

And look at you, mugging for the camera! :D

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

I did feel a little doubtful about it. But I figured that if it broke, at least I would die happy. :D

[amanen.livejournal.com]

I was about to leave a comment saying, "Oh, I love swings like that! There was one in England that I loved swinging on as a kid," but it seems *someone* has beaten me to the punch. Ah well.

"They'll be so pleased to meet an American! Right when they got out of the car, they were saying 'I love you,' weren't they?"

"Maybe that's the only English they know?"

I've met a lot of people where that's the only English they know. Well, that and "hello" and possibly "how are you." And by met, I mean passed on the street and/or train. But still!

I somehow missed when you left for Turkey, but I hope it's proving to be quite the adventure! From the look of it, it is.

[osprey-archer.livejournal.com]

Clearly the swing is a cherished family memory.

Turkey is amazing. Simply driving is an adventure, because the drivers rarely feel constrained by either the rules of the road or the laws of physics.