The water is beckoning. It's so stinkin' hot right now, who wants to take walks around in it? I should, but I don't. Still needing to exercise and having crabby knees and joints, I took the literal plunge and joined the pool in Carrollton. I get wet, cool, and can't even tell I'm sweating. It takes two hours out of my day, but who's up at that time anyhow? Swimming is much nicer on the bones, but gives a fantastic workout. I did this years ago and lost a good many pounds just by treading water in the deep end. At that time, there were deep-water aerobics classes, where ladies strap on a flotation belt and float around. They would mock me because I wasn't in their class. I was in my own lane, over my head, with no flotation belt. I wasn't doing laps but I was wearing myself out just keeping my head above water. Don't be a mean girl.
Over this last month, I started meeting up with a girlfriend (not a mean girl) three mornings a week and we yap while we manage to stay afloat. An hour goes by quickly when you're distracted. This week, I had to go it alone and it wasn't nearly as easy. I took up chatting with one of the lifeguards and it helped. A very good plan. My body is already starting to feel better, walking is easier, and I think there's hope for the cranky parts. This is all in preparation for more water and lower A1Cs.
Speaking of water, Monday, I get on a big boat with an old friend. She lost her 30-year-old son last year to suicide, a hugely unexpected twist in her life. Meanwhile, her husband is declining way earlier than anyone could expect. He can no longer turn himself or do basic tasks. She had to put him in a facility where he could be helped. As we were grieving over that one recent day, nearing the anniversary of her son's death, she said, "What I would love right now is to just get on a big boat somewhere and float." I said, "I'm your gal." So we got to planning and are leaving day after tomorrow for a short cruise. We chipped in extra for the balcony. Our idea is to simply laugh, cry, rest, laugh some more. We are not going to worry about calories or the advent of anything chocolate. We will think about that tomorrow. Or next week...
I thank God for the goodness of water. Of course, we can't live without it. But the cooling, buoyant properties of water have always made my insides feel serene (except when plunging into murky lake water, there's that, but I ain't doing that again). Is there anything so pleasant as slipping into a cool, clean pool and letting the cares of the world drift away? I'm a mermaid, undulating my fins, left alone with my thoughts, no phone, no TV. In these days of multiple assaults on my brain, with social media and Netflix marathons and endless news feeds, it is really nice to have an excuse to disconnect from everything and help my body (and brain) in the process.
I spent many, many years teaching children to swim and then lifeguarding. I've been musing about the idea of taking (expensive) training to become a certified ISR swim instructor, where I'd teach little kids and even babies to float, to be safer in the water. A friend of ours lost her baby to drowning, and these things are weighing heavily on my mind. I have 12 (#13 in the oven) grandchildren too. Even though I've taught some to swim, I can't help but think about taking it further. Musing on that this week. Bucket lists and goals...and mermaids.
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