Swimming

Have I ever mentioned that I used to swim a lot?

It took me awhile to learn. Once I did, I got better in the lake at summer camp...enough that I could not just learn the rowboat, but the sailboat and water skiing as well.  I sucked at water skiing, fyi.

When I was about 9 years old, I would walk to the local pool on my own and spend the afternoon. 
Then we moved to Colorado and one of the neighborhoods we lived in early on had a summer swim team and I was convinced to join.  I swam back stroke and never learned how to properly do a kick turn without getting water up my nose.  The summer I was on the swim team I was as blonde and brown as was possible.  My hair turned green from the chlorine.

I kept swimming into high school and college.  Just for me.

After I broke my ankle, I went back to swimming because that was all I could do.

I made sure all my kids could swim.  I have spent hours with three children attached to me in the pool.

In the past few years, getting into cold pools has been harder for me.  I don't know why, aging?  Arthritis?  Common sense? 
But a few weeks back I was at wits end and had the fortuitous discovery that a local pool is heated.  Not the pool closest to me, but not too far away.  I have managed to go swimming many times in the past little while and it feels like coming home.   I have been so unfocused since the break up.  Swimming has helped.

As much as I love running, swimming was my first love and it's still there for me.  I can swim and feel better about life. I don't even pretend to attempt a kick turn though.  The scene of some old lady dying at the end of the pool would traumatize the young swim lesson kids.  When I am in the pool I am nine years old again, hoping adult swim doesn't happen any time soon and wishing I had brought a dime for an ice cream sandwich.