A walk in the park

They have merry-go-rounds here in Italy.

I realize this isn't the deep, insightful, cultural observation you may have hoped for from someone spending a summer on another continent, but it jumped out at me. When I was a kid, I absolutely loved merry-go-rounds. They were my favorite piece of playground equipment, hands down.

Somewhere along the way in our country, someone decided that "fun" was synonymous with "unsafe." We no longer have seesaws, high dives, earth balls or giant hamster wheels. We no longer have merry-go-rounds.

So when I stumbled upon this beauty, I took it for a ride. Like most things, it's not quite what I remember. Getting spun in circles gives me a bit of a headache these days. But I'm not too old to remember the boundless joy simply spinning in circles once brought. Just the thought of it made my day.