The other day, my 10-month-old grandson Max and I were walking around the house and we noticed the curtains in my bedroom were billowing out, swaying in the gentle breeze. That brought me back to my grandfather’s house where in the summer we’d be sitting in the parlor after a long day of baling hay, and the gauzy curtains would reach out their arms to cool us down.
What is it with the breezes of summer? What makes them so intriguingly beautiful? The maple leaves bow and bend, the poplar leaves twirl and dance, the white pine seems to be the conductor slowly keeping the rhythmic beat. Reminds me of the John Denver song that goes: “…and the wind will whisper your name to me, little birds will sing along in time, leaves will bow down when you walk by and morning bells will chime.”
The magic of a summer breeze is that it plays while it gives us refreshing coolness. Playing is an important part of life. We see the baby bears rolling around, playing on the grass, enjoying the feeling of being alive. The baby fawns are all over, playing or resting while they wait for their mothers to return. Even the leaves of the trees practice - gaining strength and flexibility, and play - dancing and twirling.
Max has an amazing way to play. First, he likes to crawl upstairs - and won’t go unless he knows I’m following him because he likes to terrorize me by turning and looking down at just the wrong time. Getting a reaction from Gram is very important in play for a 10-month-old. He also likes to put things in his mouth which is his number one detection place. “Let’s see what this thing does” - also something that terrorizes Gram. He also likes to bang things together, point, lift his arms up, cruise around the room. For a baby, the whole world is an adventure to explore, a big playground, and when you fall you just cry a little and get picked up and all is well.
School’s out for the children, and they have time to play more than usual. Retired people say they have a lot of time to play, but do they play? I think that the service some retired people give to the community is wonderful and maybe it is like play for them. At least I hope it is. Play gives us strength for living.
Playing is a necessary part of our growth and development. Play has spiritual aspects. In fact, there are books written on the spirituality of playing. I know this is true, but looking at my vast collection of books, I don’t have one on play. Hmm, interesting. Well, it’s 4th of July weekend and families are all together, hopefully having fun. This is a great time to play. May your playing be safe, refreshing, spiritually uplifting and engaging. If you know of any good spiritual books on play, I’m open to suggestions.