I stood on the lip of the pool deck yesterday, wondering about the swim that was ahead of me. If I thought long and hard about how to move in the water I couldn’t remember how I used to do it. I stepped closer and the cool water lapped at my toes, inviting me to jump in and get exhausted, after all, the water had missed me. It was my first time back at a pool since February of 2005.
I did all the things that used to be commonplace. I stretched, tightened my suit, checked the goggles, and jumped in, fully submerging myself in the water, and then extending my long frame upward from the beckoning liquid. My hair hung dripping in front of my eyes. With a swift flick of my head backwards the hair was out of my way. I went under again, but I took my time listening. The familiar amplified sound of the pool was comforting.
I pushed off the wall, and left all of my doubts there as they slipped off of me in the smooth water. How to cut and glide through the water is something I will never forget. You do some things in life so often that knowing how to do them could never leave you. Stroke after stroke, flip after flip, and breath after breath I discovered that I hadn’t forgotten one thing.
Three thousand yards later I put my hands on the deck, squatted low in the water, and jumped out of the pool landing both of my feet firmly on that memory ridden tiled surface. I looked admiringly out at the pool, like I just had a great visit with a long lost friend that reminded me of how good it all could be.
2 comments:
Awesome! Your blogs like this always give me chills. You rock my face off.
Great! I could have read more about this if you had written more. Glad that you wrote about it AND that you got back in the water!
Post a Comment