"Nightswimming"

I’ve thought of myself as a lap swimmer for quite a while now, but I think it may be time for me to change that mindset. I swim to swim laps and get exercise and I very much enjoy it. However, pools that aren’t the appropriate lap swimming shape don’t even register on my radar. Any recreational swimming I do is usually with a group of people in one natural body of water or another and regretfully seems to happen less and less frequently the older I get. However, I really love the water.

Yesterday, I ended up doing odd duties at work that made me overheated and much warmer than usual. Amazingly enough, some little light bulb went off in my head and I remembered the pool that is a mere 50 yards away from my front door, the pool that I’ve only been in twice in the past 15 months that we have lived in this apartment. It’s really a very nice little pool. It’s quiet, private, and relaxing. Plus, there is hardly ever anybody in it. I’m not accustomed to having such luxury at my disposal.

So before starting dinner, I stole down there to cool off a bit. To my delight some kind soul had left behind a single float toy, one hot pink pool noodle. Heaven! After splashing around a bit. I grabbed the noodle and slowly floated around and around with not another soul in site. It’s been at least three years since I have just floated in water alone without an audience or a destination. In that half an hour I felt years of tension melt away.

Now I have me a mission. I’m gonna march myself down to Target, buy me my own noodle and make this a regular thing. A purple noodle, in honor of my recent visitors who brought this treasure back into my realm of awareness. It’s almost as delightful as nightswimming.

Matilda showing us how enjoying the water is really done.