Up a link

We have a playset out back that has two blue vinyl swings -- one for each girl. Every afternoon after school I push the girls on the swings until the mosquitoes come out.

Under Reilly's swing is a black strip of dirt where she has worn away the grass over years. When the strip turns into a crater, I move Rei's swing up a link. She's moved through six links now.

Just recently I noted a spot where Maeve's feet nick the ground, a patch of grass crushed flush to the ground; her first mark in the earth. I was hesitant to move her swing up its first link, knowing that once I did, there would be no putting it back.