There is nothing like swinging high in the sky on a clear, summer evening with the wind playing in your hair. It is one of those experiences that bring back care free childhood memories.

Of course the swinging experience isn’t the same without jumping off. This proved to be a HUGE mistake for me last night.

Are you familiar with the poem The Swing by Robert Louis Stevenson? Let me refresh your memory:

How do you like to go up in a swing,
Up in the air so blue?
Oh, I do think it the pleasantest thing
Ever a child can do!

Up in the air and over the wall,
Till I can see so wide,
River and trees and cattle and all
Over the countryside–

Till I look down on the garden green,
Down on the roof so brown–
Up in the air I go flying again,
Up in the air and down!

As I geared up to jump off, my pants stuck a little bit to the swing and it made me too nervous to jump. So I thought I would just stand up when the swing went back. But the swing was too fast, and with my arms not holding on to the chain, I fell off the swing and face planted into “the garden green”. Except it was a bed of pinecones and dirt.

Needless to say, my face has several gashes and I have a fat lip.
And pretty severe neck pain.

Thankfully I was with my family who were able to console me and get me to the nearest urgent care facility and at the same time whisk away my baby and make sure she was alright.

Prognosis? The muscle tension should be healed by the end of the week.
Until then, I will be taking it easy.
And NOT trying to jump off the swing.