Snapshots of Play

I don't pick up my camera to photograph my kids in their nuttiness of play as much as I once did, but I had these from last month show up on my camera card. These moments still make me smile. Boys are just so fun to watch. They make life funny and their antics remind me almost daily to enjoy it. May we never think age and maturity are reason to become too serious, causing us to miss out on the pleasures of relationship and the world around us! Play. Or maybe, relearn how to play if you've forgotten.

“We don’t stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.” -George Bernard Shaw

“It is a happy talent to know how to play.” -Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars." -Henry Van Dyke

"Those who play rarely become brittle in the face of stress or lose the healing capacity for humor." -Stuart Brown

“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.”-Richard Lingard

>:<

I'm missing the extended play of the summer months. On this day, I said something to the effect: "I'm going to workout at the beach. Who wants to come play in the surf?" And we quickly loaded up a few things and took off. I climbed stairs (a change from running), then I joined them in the waves. 

I find this sort of workout amusing, and I have discovered that getting stronger and more agile is helping me to play with more fervor. I will always remember watching my grandma doing her morning exercises. Even as a little girl I knew her desire to engage in life and play were unusual; I still want to grow up to be like her. 

There are 130 wooden steps at this beach. I know this because one of my kids counted a few years ago, and for some reason that number stuck in my head. I verified to see if my memory served me right, and repeated the climb 30+ times. (I don't allow guesses if I lose track, and continue counting from my last recalled number. Haha- It's how I enforce my mental engagement and punish slacking off!) Counting stairs and flights keeps me motivated and engaged, competing with myself to do more than planned. 

130 x 30 = 3900 steps climbed  (also 3900 steps descended)

3900/12 = approx. 325 flights of stairs climbed 

It was funny to learn later that the world's tallest building, the Burj Khalifa in Dubai, has 2909 steps. It would be fun to try that someday!

Anyway, my cool down activity was to play in the waves. The stingrays were more numerous this summer, so it was a bit of a game to keep from touching the sand too much! Still, in my opinion it was the dreamiest workout. It was all the better in the company of some of my kids.

He played till it hurt, and sustained a few surfing rashes the day before. And no matter how much time I spent at the beach this summer, I never managed to deal with my running shoe tan line.

It's too bad summer ends and then the school work seems relentless. I'm not even the one taking Algebra 2 but -wow!- I'm so stressed over it!

Happy Tuesday, and welcome to fall! Sigh.


~Katherine