Time Machine

10-14-2014

      A wooden swing sways gracefully from the limb of a towering oak tree. Battered and shabby, it is supported by a blue and white knotted rope, providing an escape to those adventurous enough to make the climb. Once visited, I don’t always have to endure the long trek to the top of the hill in order to enjoy the beauty of this scene. Sometimes I can teleport back through my mind and experience the same moment. Imagine having a time machine that is with me wherever I go. I can travel the world while sitting in a tedious math class or lounging under a shady tree. I have these images from places where I feel at peace purposefully frozen mind, and I travel to them whenever I need a break from my everyday routine. Recently I’ve added a new escape to my time machine. This sanctuary is called “Serenity Swing”, and it is in a place that I call home.
      When I was eight years old, I went on my first journey through time. I was in a castle in Ireland with my mom and sister, and we were having scones and tea for breakfast. We lounged in the elegance of lavish décor and listened to aristocratic travelers exchange stories of their voyages. Wine colored velvet curtains graced the windows and blocked the morning sunrise from impairing our view of this perfect scene. My mother leaned over to me and said, “Lauren, close your eyes and immerse yourself in this moment. Capture every detail so you can make a happy memory for later”. I see myself in this second, and begin reliving every detail in the scene around me. The crumbs on my sister’s lap from biting off more scone than she could chew, the youthful smile on my mother’s serene face, the smell of freshly baked pastries ,and of course, the stillness of the air that allowed me to pause that moment. After a minute, the scene unfreezes and I resumed my time in paradise.
       This is only one of the memories that I store in the software of my time machine. Special moments like these are difficult to find, but once captured, can be treasured forever.
       After making a big move to San Luis Obispo, I yearned to find a new snapshot for my collection. There are so many beautiful places here, which made it hard to decide on the first place I was to explore. After collaborating with some upperclassmen about their favorite places, I heard many of them say, “Hiking to Serenity Swing should definitely be on the bucket list for your first year at Cal Poly”.  Everyone had agreed that, while moderately difficult, this was one of the most beautiful hikes and views in San Luis Obispo.
       I gathered my roommates and some close friends together, and the next morning we embarked on this adventure. We chose to go in the morning in order to beat the heat of the day, and despite some annoyed looks I received for waking up so early, we were all thankful for the crisp morning air as the incline increased. We weren’t lucky for long, because soon the sun beamed high above us and made me with that I had applied sunscreen that morning.
       The flat paved ground turned to loose dirt and soon trees lined the trail. After we left the comfort of the shaded pathway, we began hiking the slope towards the speck of a tree in the distance; our destination. The incline was tough, and soon we were all heavily breathing in the musty air. It was evident that this was a popular path to take, as shown by the worn trail between the dried, shin-high grasses. While the ground was relatively level most of the way, I would occasionally have to dodge a scattered pile of rocks, or a mound of cow dung.
       We reached a water trough that was used to hydrate the cows that wandered the hills, and decided to take a quick break. We could hear cows protesting our encroachment on their terrain in the distance and smell the ripe scent of their manure that littered the hillside.
       Once we caught our breath, we continued on our journey. However, there was a point where the path continued, but it was a little out of the way of our destination. Eager to spice up our adventure, we decided to take a more direct route that involved a steeper slope. “Robert Frost would be proud”, I thought to myself as we steered off the trodden path and into the tall grass.
   

   This path certainly was faster than the original, but it was more complicated as well. We quickly found ourselves climbing over a rocky terrain as our feet skid in the loose dirt. One last lurch and I was on the top of the slope. I glanced down the path and my eyes gazed upon the great oak tree with two swings gently swaying in the light breeze.
       One swing was old, wooden and dirty, while the other was your typical playground swing, with a green plastic seat that hung from a yellow chain. Both were so eloquently placed with their own beauty and purpose. The plastic swing had been placed in front of the wooden one, therefore impairing its view of the rolling hills. This reminded me of how our society is advancing, but along the way we have begun to push away our old values and ways of living for more modern replacements. Sure the green swing is new and shiny, but the wooden one has been embedded with many more memories that its plastic counterpart would never experience.
       Valuing a more traditional path, I chose the wooden swing. I sat there with the wind blowing through my long, brown hair and my feet dangling above the ground. In my head, I heard my mother’s voice telling me to close my eyes. This was the moment. This was the experience I had been searching for. I tasted the salty sweat on my tongue, heard the leaves brushing against each other in the fall breeze, and felt the sun warming my legs as I swung them back and forth. I opened my eyes to see beautiful San Luis Obispo, with its endless peaks and valleys. The scene was already perfectly frozen, making it easy to capture. A moment passes and then the image is permanently stored in my mind, waiting for the next time I can relive its extravagance.