This backyard swing may not have looked like much.

The first night in my current house, I stood in the kitchen and looked out the window at the backyard and I said, “That swing has got to go.”  The wood looked old.  The chain was rusted.  It was an ugly old swing, left behind by the house’s former owners.  It was easy to dismiss but, the first time I sat in that swing and I let the wind gently rock me back and forth, I fell in love with it.

It was my place to go if I was feeling down or if I just needed some time to myself.  If the world was getting too chaotic or if I came home hating my job or cursing biology, I would sit on that swing and the gentle rocking would take all of my troubles.

That swing went from being an eyesore to being home.

A little over a year ago, our town got hit by a violent storm.  Throughout the night, rain pounded on the roof, the wind shook the windows, thunder made the house tremble, and the flashes of lightning were so bright and frequent that I barely noticed that the power can gone out.  In the morning, when the rain had finally become a drizzle, my sister and I stepped outside.  Our backyard was flooded and littered with debris.  Our neighbor’s tree had collapsed, smashing his fence and then crashing into our yard.

Underneath the tree were the crushed remains of the swing.

I was upset, even though I knew it was just something that no one could have controlled.  I didn’t blame my neighbor.  I certainly didn’t blame the tree.  I didn’t even blame the storm.  There was no one to blame.  I guess we were lucky.  If the tree had fallen in a different direction, it would have hit our house.  If the cats had been outside, it could have fallen on them.  When we cleaned up the backyard, we didn’t find any dead squirrels, birds, or possums under the tree.  It could have been so much worse.

The man who lived across the street helped us to move the remains of the swing out of our backyard.  We put it on the curb so that the city could pick it up.  Because of the storm, the debris left by the storm were not picked up for three weeks.  But the swing only lasted a day on the curb before someone — I don’t know who — picked it up.  I take some comfort that someone took it, rather than it being tossed in a garbage truck.  The swing is serving a purpose somewhere.

One year later, I still miss that ugly old swing.  I guess I always will.

Previous Moments:

1. My Dolphin by Case Wright
2. His Name Was Zac by Lisa Marie Bowman
3. The Neighborhood, This Morning by Erin Nicole
4. The Neighborhood, This Afternoon by Erin Nicole
5. Walking In The Rain by Erin Nicole
6. The Abandoned RV by Erin Nicole
7. A Visit To The Cemetery by Erin Nicole
8. The Woman In The Hallway by Lisa Marie Bowman
9. Visiting Another Cemetery by Erin Nicole
10. The Alley Series by Erin Nicole
11. Exploring The Red House by Erin Nicole
12. The Halloween That Nearly Wasn’t by Erin Nicole
13. Watchers and Followers by Erin Nicole
14. Visitors by Erin Nicole
15. Fighting by Case Wright
16. Walking In The Fog by Erin Nicole
17. A Spider Does What It Can by Erin Nicole
18. Downtown Richardson, In The Rain by Erin Nicole
19. Me, our kids, and ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD! by Bradley Crain
20. The Statues of SMU by Erin Nicole
21. Exploring the Back Yard Of An Abandoned House by Erin Nicole

I simply can’t resist the opportunity to explore an abandoned house.  Check out this backyard!

A few weeks after I took these pictures, the city sent down a landscaping crew who mowed the grass and tossed out all of the tables and the chairs that had been left in the backyard.  It made me sad watching them do it.  I don’t know who once lived in that house or why they left their gate open but I’ve always wondered if they ever came back looking for their plastic chairs.  Watching it all get tossed in a dumpster felt like the end of an era.

Previous Moments:

1. My Dolphin by Case Wright
2. His Name Was Zac by Lisa Marie Bowman
3. The Neighborhood, This Morning by Erin Nicole
4. The Neighborhood, This Afternoon by Erin Nicole
5. Walking In The Rain by Erin Nicole
6. The Abandoned RV by Erin Nicole
7. A Visit To The Cemetery by Erin Nicole
8. The Woman In The Hallway by Lisa Marie Bowman
9. Visiting Another Cemetery by Erin Nicole
10. The Alley Series by Erin Nicole
11. Exploring The Red House by Erin Nicole
12. The Halloween That Nearly Wasn’t by Erin Nicole
13. Watchers and Followers by Erin Nicole
14. Visitors by Erin Nicole
15. Fighting by Case Wright
16. Walking In The Fog by Erin Nicole
17. A Spider Does What It Can by Erin Nicole
18. Downtown Richardson, In The Rain by Erin Nicole
19. Me, our kids, and ONCE UPON A TIME IN HOLLYWOOD! by Bradley Crain
20. The Statues of SMU by Erin Nicole