Deep Noodles
I didn't swim today though I went to the pool. Aqua aerobics classes are suspended due to administrative sloth and disinterest and equipment problems. I did a couple of laps. Then, because of the crowds, I mounted a noodle ( a noodle is a long sausage shaped foam flotation device) at the deep end and I moved through the water, riding my noodle, articulating my arms, legs, abs. In fact, I was proud that I used only one noodle and didn't use a flotation belt and I moved and worked out in the deep. My abs were on their own and they worked out well.
I kind of like having a pool membership...
The Pool Is Cool: WWII, swimming and driving
Walking/driving to and from the municipal swimming pool I belong to is a guilty pleasure. Like everybody who comes to the facility, I under-dress my swim suit. So I'm always in disguise when I enter -- have put on the costume of another player. In this uniform I'm a woman who is lithe and strong -- who will take into herself all of the oxygen that's available and put it to good, deep, efficient use. This phenom is one that I discuss with other mature women who swim and do aqua aerobics. There is a bone deep feeling of well-being and accomplishment that - I believe - is unavailable to the...
the water forgives
The water forgives me. I thought it wouldn't. I am so insecure that I think I have betrayed my relationship with my swimming if I stay away from the pool. So, I go back and I feel as though there has been no break off. I have a delight in coming back though I am fearful that I no longer know how to swim. I have a multitude of reasons to stay away from the aerobics class and/or the pool. But on a day that I swim I have the experience of feeling strong, graceful, capable and deeply relaxed. And when I get out of the water, I feel virtuous and hungry. What experience could be better?
THE FOURTH OF “YOU LIE”
As the descendent of enslaved African Americans it is difficult to be celebratory on the holiday that has come to be called Independence Day - July 4th. I am grateful that Frederick Douglas has given us so eloquent a speech as that he delivered on July 5, 1852 to consider. if you are inclined to quiet prayer, then intone these words. If you are inclined to angry outbursts then rather exhort this. If you are inclined to study, then learn these words.
Frederick Douglas
Independence Day Speech at Rochester, NY - 1852
"Fellow citizens, pardon me, allow me to ask, why am I called upon...
